Charisma: Our Final Haven
by Xenylic
Summary: A sorta next-generation avatar story that I had made for the fun of it awhile back. Reiatsu Kintaro is the new avatar from what is now known as the Earthen Empire. Though he's not quite the usual avatar-criteria. Weak, scared, and a nonbender, Reia is forced to leave his home, his family, and all else he loves in order to survive. Let me know what you think!
1. Homeland

Chapter 1:

Homeland

"Nilak" 尼罗河

_I __can't believe I'm actually here. _

Nilak leaned on the railing over the deck of the Shànlián, eyes glued to the glistening, crystal-blue water that crashed on the peaceful docks of Republic City. The green mountains that towered behind the city had each peak covered in snow. It gave off a brilliant, yet unfamiliar radiance to Nilak when paired with the shining sun and calm sea.

_And yet here it stands—right in front of me. _

He pulled out the pocket watch he always kept inside his coat. It was almost ten in the morning when his four-day journey from The Northern Water Tribe had finally come to an end. Though Nilak thought the anticipation was over, he felt more restless than ever now that the lofty buildings and enormous docks surrounded him.

The normally disruptive and annoying voice on the intercom, had a pleasantly welcoming effect today. _Just like the sea-leopards' squawks filling the bay._

"Ahem—Attention! Attention! This is your captain speaking, we have arrived at our destination and are scheduled to dock momentarily. Welcome to Republic City, everyone!"

It felt almost like a dream to Nilak. His face felt numb and strangely cold as if the announcement assured him that this was real in a way his eyes could not. His eyes squinted as the rising wind brushed against his face. _I'm coming for you, father…_

Despite the four days he had spent out in the ocean, docking in a port had to be the longest bit. Several times Nilak found himself pacing uncontrollably on the deck and checking his pocket watch unnecessarily. However, his legs stiffened once the flux of people around the harbor was accessible. Finally, he retained control of himself once the crew started to unload cargo.

He picked up his two, large bags from the pile laid out on the edge of the dock before going out into the inner market. It was loud and chaotic; for several if not most merchants sat shouting out certain sales and foods behind their respective stand. It was hard to survey everything while keeping with the tides of people steering him through the market and out to the first streets Nilak had seen in his entire life.

He couldn't help the stupid grin that no doubt was vivid on his face. _The buildings! The streets! The lights and cars! It's just like Dad said! This place… It's absolutely amazing! _

Several horns honked out in the street and the powerful sound of a construction site somewhere off towards his right.

"Er—Excuse me! I'm looking for someone who was on the Shànlián. You might know him, his name is Nilak," a peppy voice called to his left. He quickly turned and saw a small, bony woman asking a short, muscular man the question just inside the market, pointing at the tall Shànlián.

"Yeah I met him—but I'm 'fraid you're too late. He left the ship a few minutes after we unloaded," the man said. Nilak then remembered him as one of the crew he had seen on the ship several times throughout the journey.

"Okay, thank you!" She exclaimed, quickly dashing back out into the outer edges of the cove.

_Wait! I'm over here!_ Nilak finally came back to his senses and chased after her. It was harder than he anticipated to keep up with her while holding the heavy bags in his hands. _Gah! How can I get her attention? There's too much going on around here for her to notice…_

Swiftly cutting through several small sea food stands, he saw the woman had started surveying the surrounding area. He caught up with her and gently tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Wha—!" She spun around, quickly.

Regretting his reckless means of approaching her, he bit his lip nervously. _Great, that came out a lot ruder than I imagined… How do I get myself tangled in these situations so easily? _

"Um—can I help you, sir?" she said, clearly confused by his efforts of communication.

Feeling his face glow, Nilak tried to find a way to explain who he was. _If only I had some parchment on me… _

"You okay? Are you lost?" He shook his head awkwardly. _Why am I such an idiot sometimes?_

Feeling foolish, he dropped his bags to each side and tried to explain himself extremely slowly. '_I…. am….' _He cut off. Letters were a lot harder for people to understand who didn't know the language.

"Oh!" Suddenly, Taige's brown eyes widened at him as if one of his arms had just disappeared. "You're—are you Nilak?!"

Relieved, he nodded.

"Oh!" She let out again, now beaming up at him. "I'm so sorry, Councilman Nilak! My name's Taige, I've been assigned as your personal assistant. You see, I'm a linguist. I'm supposed to act as your 'voice' for the council and other work-related things you may encounter."

Being addressed as "Councilman Nilak" made his stomach turn over a bit. When she explained who she was, though, he felt even stupider than before. He exhaled before he fluently moved his hands in an expression to say '_You know sign language?' _

Despite her previously saying it, Nilak still felt dumbfounded at what Taige had said. "Mhm!" she emitted, happily.

Nilak covered his face with his hand, bashful at his foolish acts. He raised his eyebrows slightly before clamping his hands together. '_Nice to meet you_,' he smiled reassuringly as he scratched the back of his head, nervously.

She giggled at him before he gripped the handles of the heavy bags in his hands. "Here, let me help you with that." He slung the bag on his right over his shoulder and moved a hand on his chin before extending it outwards, meaning "Thanks".

Taige nodded, briskly. She took the bag from his left hand and faced away from him. "It's a long walk through the streets toward your apartment and I imagine you're exhausted from the trip. We should get going—you ready?"

With a knock from his hand _(Yes)_, they had went into the depths of Republic City.

Walking side-by-side, Nilak caught his assistant studying his face every couple minutes. Her glances made him feel uneasy. _Has she never been around someone like me before, despite knowing my language?_

Though his discomfort was soon forgotten as his focus shifted on the hectic city in front of him. _It is so… foreign._ His head was pounding, dizzy from all the harsh angles he crammed it, excited. Nilak could not help but stop every few minutes, fascinated by everything from the cars crowded in the roads, to the disruptive shouts people made while densely navigating through the street and sidewalk. He even heard a distant siren go off from a distance for a couple of minutes that was slightly alarming. Fortunately, Taige seemed to understand and waited patiently until he was ready to move on.

"So I take it this is your first time in the city?" She grinned.

He nodded vigorously.

"Ah, I see. They don't have Sato-Mobiles up at the Northern Water Tribe?"

'_Nope, but my father has told me all about them…'_ He motioned fluently. '_I never got the chance to see what they looked like before though.'_

Nilak's father, Onaruk, was the Councilman representing the Northern Water Tribe for most of his son's life. However he was declared missing only a few months ago; before Nilak was asked to take up the position in his absence.

With all the stop-and-go movement they had done, the already long walk was extended even longer. It took an hour and a half before Taige stopped him as they reached a towering building to his right and opened the door for him.

"You're on the ninth floor, Door 14," she said once they passed the receptionist who had a long, bulging stomach with a black handlebar mustache beneath his bald shiny head. He wore a strange hat and was eating lunch with his feet on the desk; paying no mind to them.

A door opened and she led them inside a small square room automatically. Taige pressed the button with a '九' underneath the glass.

_What on earth…!?_

Nilak immediately shot his arms out on two of the walls to steady himself as he looked around wildly in response to the harsh upwards movement. Taige covered her mouth as a fit of laughter ran over her.

"I—Haha—I'm so sorry! I shouldn't laugh, I'm terrible! Absolutely terrible…" She cut off for several moments, still grinning uncontrollably. "I had no idea—I guess it only makes sense—you've never seen a car before… it should've occurred to me."

Nilak gawked, bewildered at her murmuring.

"Uh—Councilman, sir, you see this is an elevator. It lifts up and down through the floors of the buildings here so people can—er—get around quicker." Taige explained, still trying to keep a straight face. "You see, I've lived inside Republic City my whole life and it's quite common in cities. It just seems so… natural to me that I guess I assumed everyone knew about it."

Nilak was at a loss of what to reply with, but the doors that soon opened interrupted his thoughts. He looked past them to see that they were indeed on a different floor than the last one. _Strange…_ It consisted almost entirely of doors going down a single hallway. Each door had a brass number on the top, save the double doors that Nilak presumed to be the stairs.

"Right. So here is your key… Number 14 on the ninth floor you got that down?" Taige asked, placing a piece of brass in his palms. They had begun to sweat from the surprise in the elevator.

_Floor 9—Number 14_ He read back in his head before knocking his hand to respond.

"Good. Let's see seven…eight… Ah, here it is!" She turned to the other side of the hall and pointed at the door that said 十四.

He tugged at the door quietly while she faced away, slightly. "I'd assume you'd like to settle in after such a long trip so I'll—" she blinked as he struggled at the handle.

"Did you use the key?" She tried, quizzically.

_Great…_ His face heated up as he felt more lost by the minute. Looking at the metal piece completely stumped, he shrugged at her, hopelessly. "Here—"

Taige took his hand and guided the length of the key through the slit in the door knob before forcefully turning it. Afterwards a _clink _sounded inside the door and she pushed with her other hand on the door until it opened all the way.

The wooden floorboards creaked at his weight as he stepped inside the narrow, blank hallway. The entire apartment was visible as soon as the walls opened up a couple meters away. There was a small counter that separated the kitchen from a small living room. Behind him lay three doors that consisted of a closet, a bedroom and a small, cramped bathroom. All the furniture was stripped away with the previous owner's move.

"Well? How is it?" Taige looked at him, eyes lit up with excitement.

Pausing for a minute, Nilak chose his next words carefully. '_It's nice. Small, yet… cozy.' _He answered with his hands.

"Oh good!" she exclaimed happily.

He slumped his bag off his shoulder and dropped it with a _plop _after looking at the large window on the back wall. _Unbelievable… _He gazed at the brilliant view of the small dots of people and cars far below with nothing short of awe showing on his face. Despite his glee at the view in _his _apartment, he was far too stunned at it to smile.

Footsteps approached behind him as the sun warmed his bare skin, now high enough to be seen through the skyscrapers amidst the city. "Yeah… The view is incredible." Taige said quietly.

Nilak grinned slightly. He didn't have to move his hands for her to understand him.

* * *

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

The loud clatter of an old bell brought Reiatsu Kintaro to his senses with a jolt. Everyone stood up and began to vacate the classroom, anticipating the noise. Once he got his bearings straight, he too did the same.

While exiting the classroom, he found Tàitai Hitomi scowling at him once he also left his seat. _I wonder if she saw me daydreaming again_. It was a bad habit of his. Luckily, as he left the classroom, she decided to let him be. _She probably just gave up on me months ago. _Though she wasn't the only one who took the time to glare at him as he walked through the crowded halls and the school yard of Kotai Academy. Almost every kid in the academy hates his guts solely for the blood that runs through his veins.

It was common knowledge not to befriend a nobleman in the city of Kotai. Mostly for the fact royal etiquette was no longer as naturally respected at this day and age. It was more of a barrier that had created a lot of social conflict. They likely felt victimized while the highborns pranced around emitting vanity. _Or at least that's how they just love to see us._

It did not help that they were in an extended period of war with the Beijia Kingdom and United Republic of Nations. War never made times easier for the common houses. _It also makes us, 'pride of the kingdom', look selfish because it looks like we don't make any sacrifices, no matter how terrible the economy gets._

Reia was the youngest son of Admiral Zeke Kintaro, one the most acclaimed war heroes in the Adrian Kingdom. Before marrying Murasaki, Zeke's older sister wed the youngest brother of King Haroon. _Or was it the second youngest brother? _After marrying Mura, Zeke eventually retired from the military and became an equally famous political figure in Ekta, the primary capital of Adrian.

To Reia's satisfaction, Zeke normally stayed in Ekta which was half a kingdom away. He never got along with his father because of his different attitude towards the weak or the minority. When Zeke found out Reia would never bend anything, it was the last straw. He transferred his son to the public education system, forever killing any mutual respect they once had. _He knew… He knew this is how they would treat me. This is my punishment for being weak and rebellious I suppose. _

No matter what he seemed to do in the years since he was thrown into this cage, his class always pushed him around and humiliated him. It made the dilemma worse knowing that they truly didn't know a thing about him excluding his lineage.

Reiatsu took a deep breath as he left the academy's grounds. Kotai was always lively once on the streets where vintage cars navigated past the cluster of people shouting and conversing around the cramped intersection.

"NEWS ALL OVER ADRIAN! MARCH 13TH, 246 ASC: BATTLE OF MO CE SEA! THE NORTHERN WATER TRIBE'S WEST FLEET RAIDS NORTH EKTA! SEVERAL ADRIAN VESSELS SINK! ESTIMATED TO HAVE SUSTAINED NO LESS THAN 50 CASUALTIES!" Newspaper headlines were being called out amongst the chaos, normally containing articles about the war or other major political issues.

Buildings all across the streets ahead stacked high and squeezed together, tightly. He aimlessly wandered around a bit with the flow of the crowd passing several homes with lights lit all over each door.

Reia felt that the hours of sleep he had while in the school only added more exhaustion now that he was up and moving around.

Despite considering to head back to the Dimm Rosè Palace and sleep, he continued to press on Cai e' Dan Street. More often than not, Reia would try to kill as much time as possible before going back to Dimm Rosè. Even without Zeke around most of the time, his younger brother, Kenji, and his younger sister, Qinna always bothered him, one way or another. He never liked staying inside the palace if it could be helped, even in his own room.

He stopped momentarily when he heard the train tracks on the roofs of the buildings on the right rattle over the commotion of vehicles and pedestrians alike. _The train station isn't too far from here now that I think about it. _It was still conflicting inside him but he resist the urge yet again.

Reia tucked his hood over his head, wishing not to be recognized in such a popular center. Within twenty seconds a train had come into his field of vision and smoothly followed through the smoke spewed out of the fireplaces of each edifice. Sparks flew out as the brakes pressed onto the wheels, clearly nearing their destination.

After resuming his walk, the Zhēnx Triangle finally came into his view making the normally cramped city very widespread. Reia came to Zhēnx Triangle every day, yet he never ceased to be impressed by the size and architecture that was Kotai's core.

There were markets spread out amongst the three major roads that connected the Triangle, along with all kinds of shops and restaurants. He even saw some beautiful brass pillars encasing a sign that appeared to be in front of a bank next to Jièyì Library, which towered over most of the other buildings. Along the sidewalk, a musician or two would play an assortment of different and, at times, unorthodox instrument every night to get some extra cash inside the case they left open while playing. It came to a point that he was familiar with all the seasoned street performers around the area.

Reia's sightseeing quickly came to end when a waft of some barbequed meat hit him up ahead. His stomach growled enough to persuade him. Once he located the source and looked at the display dishes, his mouth began to water as well. He opened the crooked, wooden door and approached the counter.

"Could I have some roasted duck?" He nervously tugged his hood further down, looking at the ground.

"That'll be seven copper pieces, kid," the man said. Reia's face heated up after being addressed in such a way. _I look like a child to him… _Even without trying to conceal his face, it would've been hard to see the cashier's face without looking foolish. His was the shortest height of most of all the other grown men he met to his dismay.

"Uh—will this do?" He placed four bills on the counter. He could feel the tall body sneer to his side. It was considered fairly snobbish to use paper money in Kotai, as commoners rarely possessed any bank funding ties that printed the paper bills.

"Two will cover it just fine."

"Oh—okay." He retrieved two of the bills and stuffed them in the inside pocket of his coat.

Once he was handed the stick of meat, he decided it was best to head back to Dimm Rosè before he worried Murasaki. _It's not anything new…I'm always out this late—I'm sure she's used to it by now. _Nevertheless, he took the North road, starting to tear bits of the warm duck from the stick; savoring every bite.

"Oi! _Zhu_r Reia!" His enjoyment quickly turned to dread as he glanced around horror-stuck and sped up his pace. _How do they know it's me?! _An audible pair of footsteps were coming behind him. Reia skirted around individuals and quickly cut into an alley before adjusting to an all-out sprinting down it.

After getting some distance, Reia looked behind him to see if his pursues were on him when he hit right into someone and recoiled onto the floor with a groan, knocking his hood off his head. "H—Sorry about that," he looked up at a fairly plump body. "I'm in a bit of a—" He flushed, this wasn't a stranger.

"Oh? What's the rush, _Zhur_?" Yunsa smiled menacingly. She was one of his so-called peers. "GAH—!"

Instinctively, he sprang back up and quickly jabbed at her right ribcage, pelting upwards to her arm. It drooped, flimsily to her wide waist. "YOU—!" She cried out, angrily, before shoving him into a wall with her left hand. Reia kicked and yelled out muffled screams, but no one either heard him or cared enough about the struggle to interfere. Something told him it was mostly the latter, being how populated the streets were at this time of the day.

His breathing became very jagged and strained. "Nice one, Yunsa." _That voice… _It was the same one that called out to him up the road. There were two boys now walking towards them. She smirked as a response to the appreciation. "Now—_Zhur_ _Reiatsu_, what should we do with you?"

"I got half a mind of killin' him." She tightened her grip on his neck after the suggestion. "It'd show them royals how much power they _truly _have over us."

"Don't be ridiculous," her companion snapped. "he's not worth the risk, just take his stuff and leave him. 's not like he'll need it, anyway."

Yunsa sighed and gave a mocked pout. "Ugh—fine. Just make sure I get the mo—"

A small block of cement hit her in the jaw. Caught off guard, she released her grip around Reia's throat and fell to the ground, sluggishly. He took a large intake of air as he followed her to the stone floor.

"Wha—" her companion said, befuddled before a brick from the building behind him shot him in the back of the head. The last guy quickly tried to bolt out of there, though his legs soon sank, ankle-deep into wet cement. As hastily as it liquified, the concrete solidified once more.

"H-hey!" He quickly lost his balance and fell on his back, knees bent up.

A stiff, sturdy hand touched Reia's back as he coughed his throat sore.

"You all right, Reia?" Avani asked. He shook his head, still feeling nervous.

"I—ahem—I think so." She lifted a hand above his head. "Thanks," he muttered, grabbing it and being practically propelled upwards by her strength. When he release his grip, his knees began shaking, uncontrollably. The fact that it was so obvious made him feel embarrassed at his cowardice.

"Let's get moving—don't really wanna stay for another round." she said, stiffly. He nodded rigidly and followed her lead.

He was a head shorter, and much scrawnier than her thick muscled body. Alongside her tall, thick body, she had brown hair normally covered in dirt, green eyes, and pale freckles surrounding her wide nose.

Avani was three years older than himself, making her 19. Despite her easily an intimidating figure, she was the only person he could honestly call a friend. As a result of the age gap, he saw very little of her inside the academy during the day time hours.

"How did you know where I was?" Reiatsu asked, curious.

"Oh please, you're always around here." Avani answered.

"At Zhēnx Triangle, yeah, but I meant _here_—like in this alley." It was a bit sketchy to him.

"Well… Let's just say, I'm a good listener." Avani smiled toothily.

Reia decided to drop the questions, despite feeling more confused than when he started. If Avani didn't tell him immediately, she wouldn't change her mind. _She is a stubborn one, I'll give her that…_

* * *

"Avani" 阿瓦尼

The chilly air whistled in her ears, making the hairs stick up on the back of her neck. The sun had now completely vanished from the sky with only a faint glow of red still visible at the base of the horizon.

They walked quietly along Serenade Park as Reiatsu looked along Port Ichiro in the large lake towards their far left.

Reia's scruffy, silver hair blocked the side of his face while facing away from her. Avani would never dare to tell him, but she had to look down to see his face so much so that it used to really stiffen her neck. However, her spine was used to it by now. _I feel kinda bad for him…_

Even while being in a different year entirely, there was friction between Reia and the seniors of the Kotai Academy. It was a frequent, negative topic for her friends and peers to delve into. They learned quickly to do it behind her back, after she knocked Huan, one of the school's Redemption jocks, into the Adryan flagpole in the schoolyard and wrapped the pole around his body. _What'd it take? Three hours to untangle him? _She smirked at the glorious memory of his fuming crimson face once people started exiting their class.

Lake Bayani's harsh tides against the dock brought her back to her walk. She notices Reia biting his lip nervously.

"All right, spill it," Avani stated bluntly, stopping at his right shoulder. It was easy to read Reia's face when something bothered him.

He shot up quickly and looked up at her. "Hm?" His magnificent maroon eyes twinkled in the new-found moonlight. Those eyes always fascinated Avani, for some reason. It was like his eyes gave off some heat of their own.

"What's up?" Avani persisted with a hint of anger in her voice now. "You think I'm stupid enough not to notice something's bothering you?"

"I—it's nothing. _Really_," he added at her obviously unconvinced expression.

"You're a terrible liar, you know?" she pointed out bluntly as she kept walking. "TǔGuǐ Station is up ahead."

The magnificent walkway came into view and led to a wide flight of stairs with brilliantly polished brass handrails. Equally shiny brass handles outlined with ebony wood were on the heavy glass doors. The entrance was just outside the north market of Zhēnx Triangle. Reia looked over to the right with the swarm of people as he got out a small slip of paper from his pocket and read over it again.

Avani felt a bit of regret at separating on such a bad note when his back faced her as he started moving ahead into the crowd.

"Hey—uh— Avani, I—…" Reia turned back around. "Thanks, back there." He scratched the back of his head guiltily as he gave a reassuring smile afterwards.

"Don't mention it." She returned the smile, feeling a bit lighter.

Once Avani lost sight of Reia, she headed back south west towards the second home district where her apartment was. _Must be a pain, getting on a train twice a day for five days a week._ She loosely deduced, absentmindedly. Kotai was a far smaller city than most of the other Adryan strongholds. It was partially because a trench known as Courier's Trench split off the westernmost side of the city. Though smaller, it was referred to as High Kotai because of the wealth it took to live there. All of the noble families of Kotai lived within High Kotai to Avani's knowledge. _But for some reason Reia is in the common academy. _The only ways past Courier's Trench was through the TǔGuǐ railroad, or driving through the three-bridgeway. _Well, except flying above it I suppose. _

It was a long walk back to her home, covering almost half the city's distance, but Avani's legs were well trained for endurance.

She was the best earthbender in Kotai; officially mastering the advanced art of metalbending only a month ago. _It was the same week as my birthday. _In traditional teachings within the Earthen Empire, mastering earthbending meant advancing on to the sub-art of metalbending. She had mastered the rudimentary element of earth at the age of eleven, before spending the next seven years on learning the proper techniques for metalbending. It was rare that a metalbender achieved the title, Shī, before 25. The master title, however, wasn't the biggest thing that made her so excited.

When a pupil ascends to a Shī, they would now be qualified for a whole range of different things to continue on in their adult life. Shīs most commonly join the military, the Adryan Dial Guards, or Avani's personal favorite, duel professionally in the popular Adryan sport known as Redemption. Cu-Fe was easily the largest tournament in the world that hosts a Redemption bracket. She had already signed up for the local preliminary matches for a chance into the competition.

Crossing Hea Road, her body shivered a bit. It was hard to admit, but Avani felt antsy thinking about the qualifiers. It had been her lifelong dream to be a star redeemer, yet she was nauseous now that it was so close to reality. _Have I registered too soon? _She considered, horror-struck. Avani jerked her head harshly, trying to shake the thought out of her mind. _No. I'm practicing hours a day on my bending and have beaten every person I've faced in Redemption. Get a grip. I'm ready for this. _

Avani's muscles relaxed for the remainder of the walk into the familiar Second District pocket of buildings. Her home was in one of the many identical, three story, brick buildings that stood in her sight. The trees that split the lanes of the middle of the road were almost as tall. Each building held roughly six apartments and had an outside light bulbs that hung over individual doorways. She could understand why people find the structures indistinguishable from one another, for there was only a number on the outside wall for assistance. Though Avani had been in the run-down neighborhood her entire life. It was automatic for her to go past the third parking lot on the right side and up the four cement stairs into building number 74. Inside was a narrow hallway, her door was the second floor on the right. The hinges shrieked when she pulled the door open and peaked inside.

The television's black and white screen was the only light in the small, dimly lit room. A large, hairy body was snoring heavily on the closest chair. The man had a bottle cupped in his right hand.

She tiptoed her way past the family room and into the kitchen where she saw a plate of chicken and rice sitting on the counter, unscathed. She grabbed the chopsticks next to the dish and leaned on the counter and started eating the cold meal.

Kitchen lights suddenly turned on. "You're late… again." A familiar voice said. Her body jerked a bit at the abrupt end of silence.

"I got held up," Avani muttered thickly with food stuffed in her mouth. "I got back as soon as I could."

"As soon as you could?" Xia snickered. She had greying, short black hair, green eyes, and a long face. "It's twenty minutes to midnight. What 'held you up'?"

"It's got nothing to do with you, Mom," Avani stated curtly.

"Yes it does!" her mother retorted angrily. "You don't know how dangerous Kotai is at night and staying out so late isn't helping my nerves."

"Well quit worrying! I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself." Avani glared up at her, feeling her appetite dissipate for the second time tonight.

"That attitude of yours only makes things worse!" Xia exclaimed.

_Unbelievable! _She dropped her chopsticks in frustration.

"What are you talking about? I'm one of the best earthbenders in the city! I think I can take on a few street thugs who try to mess with me…"

Xia sighed. "You just don't get it Avani—the world doesn't revolve around you." She sat down on the far side of the counter and clamped her nose with her fingers in frustration. "You don't pick a fight just because you can win it… Following such logic is stupid and dangerous." She took a deep breath before looking up at Avani. "You're my daughter… I don't want to fight—"

"Then why are you?!" Avani demanded. Her mother's stern, wrinkled face slackened at the comment. Avani was taken aback from the reaction considering her harsh tone.

"Because you need to realize that there will always be someone more capable than you and if you don't learn to stop handling things from arrogance and brute force—" Xia broke off with a shiver and broke eye contact, looking at the table.

Avani found herself at a loss for words to respond with, so she filled her face with rice, as if to justify her silence. However the dead air remained in the room, bleak and miserable. It broke when the wooden floorboards creaked against the base of the wood and she heard her mother's footsteps distance themselves.

"Just… Be careful. A little submissive behavior can avoid a world of trouble." Avani turned back around. Xia was standing in the doorway, head turned back at the kitchen.

"Mm," Avani mumbled back to Xia, incoherently. It was more of a gesture of comprehension rather than agreement, however, Xia seemed satisfied with the response all the same. She left her daughter to finish her meal in peace.

Though Avani could not rid herself of the distaste in her mouth. _Ugh—Why does she always barge into everything? _She only had a few small bites of the chicken before throwing the rest of the food in the trash and putting the plate on the counter.

She passed the family room, again, feeling a consuming emptiness within. _I guess this is just not my night._

* * *

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

The train trembled after a sharp turn, bringing Reiatsu back to his senses. His head was tilted back on the head of his chair while he had slept. Once awake, the position made his neck stiff with pain.

_What was that dream? _He thought, gazing at the cluster of buildings in High Kotai. It felt so recent and yet indescribable mental barriers blocked every detail from his consciousness. Reia was used to dreaming so much in his sleep, but it always annoyed him if he couldn't remember the dream afterwards. Instinctively, Reia bit his lip as he tried to push the topic out of his mind.

Though there was little else to focus on. He was on one of the last train stops of the night in a near empty car with three teens whispering quietly in the corner and a formally-dressed, middle aged man shuffling through some papers in the briefcase on his lap. He could've sworn he felt the small group staring at him a second before he looked at them. Reia tilted his head back again, trying to ease his impatience.

It was a long trip out of the station, but once he finally left, the Dimm Rosè Palace was just down a long, prestigious, street, inside the Wuyi Causeway.

He walked across the long yard before reaching white gates, which were blocking his path into the driveway. He pressed on the button of the intercom. "Kuji, it's me." He said blankly looking over the large gates, into the enormous and glorious garden as if it were a patch of grass.

"Yes, Zhur Reiatsu," the usual, old, raspy voice came from the speaker. After a few moments, the gates welcomed him in and he walked across the excessively large yard. He opened a heavy front door with some effort and slipped inside the well-kept house.

The grandeur of the open staircase spiraling around an elegant, tan, ornamented ceiling was profound. Outside of the glossy, black stairs was a great amount of outlined art on the white walls. In the center of the room a glamorous chandelier twinkled up above. The entrance was practically made to intimidate those seeking business with Zeke.

"Welcome home. Would you like something to eat, Zhur?" Kuji walked down the stairs, making sure not to break eye contact with Reia. He had short, greying hair and wore a black suit, with a dark green tie to match his eyes. His wrinkled, pale skin was hard to notice at first, but became apparent once he covered most of the distance.

"I'm fine." Reia answered, automatically. "Is Murasaki awake?"

He felt the piercing gaze of disapproval Kuji gave. It wasn't _proper_ etiquette to call his mother by her name. _As if being formal to family members isn't stupid enough in the first place. _"I'm afraid she already retired. She has a business meeting to attend tomorrow, so she isn't to be disturbed." Reia doubted Murasaki asked to be left alone, herself, and assumed Kuji was being a bit snobbish.

"A business meeting?" Reia felt lost. "Murasaki doesn't work."

"_Hmph!_" Kuji twitched his head away at him, as if Reia was being inconsiderate of her. "If you _must _know, she is appearing in place of your father, Seigneur Zeke, for matters that are neither your place nor mine to know of."

"Oh, most certainly!" he announced, venomously, with a mocking bow to Kuji. The butler's face contorted with rage at his imitation. It wasn't like Reia to be so blatantly aggressive, but he was too fed up with Kuji's implications. He was tired of Kuji, tired of these games of etiquette, and tired of this miserable day. He stormed up the stairs, to the third floor, not waiting for a response.

He heard a habitual voice talking down the hallway, across from his own room. "Yeah, it can get hard sometimes. All right, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, Lien." Reia's angst dissipated quickly by his new-found curiosity. He followed the sound until he was in the doorway. "'Night."

Reiatsu's fraternal twin, Keito, was sitting on the side of a bed placing the rotary phone back on the bedside. Keito had grey eyes, sleek, black hair, and a broad, stiff jaw line. "What do you want?" Keito asked, noticing Reia's presence after turning around. His tone gave the impression he was both annoyed and exhausted, but his younger brother didn't hesitate.

"Nothing really… Who's Lien?"

"Mind your own business. Now get out of my room." Keito demanded, glaring up at him.

The brothers eye's connected for a second before Reia turned away. He exhaled and started back out into the large hallway. _Why do you hate me so much, Keito? _He was used to Keito's routinely malicious behavior towards him. Even Murasaki, who he always could talk truthfully to, would uncomfortably dodge any questions about him if he brought it up. He clenched his hands, absentmindedly. It felt so frustrating… not being able to be just as cold-hearted back to him.

"HEY!" A loud, obnoxious voice practically shouted at him. "What are _you _doin' here!?" A small figure, roughly a hundred centimeters quickly stormed over through the hall as if in a track course.

"Shh." Reia responded, assertively. "Quiet, Qinna! It's nearly midnight—people are trying to sleep! What are you doing up anyway?" he asked, agitated.

"Nunya beezwax!" Qinna continued, in her boisterous tone. _I sure do seem to be hearing that a lot today… _

"You're five." Reia said bluntly. "I think me being up this late pales in comparison. Besides I have a sc—"

"Hey! Listen!" She interrupted mindlessly. "You're—You're not the boss of me! I'll go to bed when I wanna!" _How does Kuji find her adorable and me the discourteous one?…Really?_

"Suit yourself." Reia shrugged. It suddenly dawned on him how stiff and aching his muscles felt. "I, for one, need all the sleep I can get, so try to quiet down for my sake."

"Do you need to regoovinace your no-bending energite?!" She blurted out, behind him as he turned around.

"I… what?" _What crazed dimension does she come from? _"Eh, first of all, it's _rejuvenate_ and second of all… My 'no-bending energy'?"

"The energite that makes you a nonbender!" She rolled her eyes. "Sheesh! Read a book!"

"That doesn't even exist!" Reia argued, hotly. "And again, seeing as you can only read eight words—!"

"Twelve!" Qinna interjected.

Reia glared at her silently, feeling no amount of words could explain his annoyance with her. To his amazement, though, Qinna giggled at the silence.

_There's no winning with her…_

"Kuji!" He finally called out, losing the last of his patience.

It took only a few footsteps on the stairs and into the hallways before he was visible.

"Yes Mister Reiat—? _Qinna!_ What the devil are you doing up at this ungodly hour?!" He looked down at her, horror-struck. "Back to bed, Missy!"

"No! I don't wanna! Ah!" She struggled in Kuji's firm grasp as he carried her down the stairs. _You'd think she's being abducted…_

Though Reia felt his lips tense into a smile for the first time. _She's the only one I know who admires me… But it's that very appraisal I can't stand about her._

Reia walked quickly back into his room, threw off his shirt, and fell onto his familiar, oversized bed. It wasn't long before he entered another dream to be lost in the morning.


	2. Natural Selection

Chapter 2:

Natural Selection

"Ryung Jae" ईबहलु ऱोा

"How many times have I had to tell you? No!" Ryung hooted, impatiently.

The wrinkles on Chief of Police, Zander Bingwen, tightened from the frustrated expression he gave Ryung Jae. "But Ryung, you must understand we _need_ your help right now. The council keeps bugging me every chance they get. It's gotten intolerable." The old man pleaded, wearily. His moustache and head were a mix of grey and black. The homburg that he always wore blocked the worst of his balding head and matched his suit.

"I don't care what they have to say on the matter," Ryung retorted firmly. "I wanted to settle down with Yuna and help—"

"'—help raise your kids.' Yes, yes, I know!" Chief Bingwen recited, impatiently. "But times have gotten hectic; what with the war going on and Charisma… I can empathize with them, being down a member of the council during all of this simply won't do." He took off his hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Then find another council member!" Ryung Jae retorted, angrily. "This is Republic City, I'm sure there's plenty of candidates who are more able _and_ more willing."

"You know as well as I that we can't just—just pick someone off the streets…" Zander resisted. "The council needs to have one member from _each _nation. You're the only Airbenders who live in Republic City. There isn't anyone else."

Ryung sighed and looked out the window for several moments. _I thought once I left the council my troubles would vanish… Heh, what a foolish notion. _He looked back at the polished, wooden desk with papers neatly organized in the small office.

"You can't run away from these problems," Zander started, uncannily. "Whether you're here or on Air Temple Island, people are going to keep hating the spirits and those who follow them unless you give them a reason to respect your ancestors and their beliefs."

"I'm not '_running away'_ from anything!" Ryung's face contorted with rage. "And I surely don't know what you are talking about with people disrespecting my family or the spirits!" He sprang out of his seat and stormed to the door.

"Oh come on, Ryung. You may be proud, but you sure aren't blind!" he retorted, standing up as well. "If everything is _so_ great, then why haven't you worn any monk robes ever since Jinora passed away?!"

Outrage bursted from his already overflowing chest. "That's got nothing to do with my mom's—"

"Of course it doesn't!" Zander cried, voice still rising. "It opened your eyes! You know things are progressively getting worse in the Earthen Empire altogether! The things people are saying about the spirits now—you'd think they're demons."

"SHUT UP!" Ryung bellowed, before quickly slamming the door close behind him and leaving Zander to his own thoughts.

Outside the office, he noticed a few disapproving looks shoot at him, but he could never please them, no matter what he did. _While I was in the council, they wanted me off and now they are mad because I refuse to rejoin? _It was hard to cool down, but he managed to focus only on the sound of his footsteps as he neared the massive doors of City Hall.

_He went too far. Talking of the spirits like that… _Instinctually, he attempted to justify his reaction. _The spirits mean the most to my family line—it was out of line for Zander to be so insensitive about it._

Though he couldn't shake the fact that Zander was right about Republic City antagonizing all things spiritual. Ryung could barely admit it to himself let alone to others.

The door opened for him and once outside, he saw a strange woman with brown eyes and sleek, ginger hair holding it open on the other end. Reluctantly her tall companion followed and backed away from the opening. Ryung couldn't help but feel the man's long, shaggy hair and confused, blue eyes looked foreign to the city. "Thanks." He muttered, nevertheless. The small girl nodded abruptly before he left.

It was always a long and inconvenient trip back to Air Temple Island. As the name suggests, the island was in the middle of the Yue Bay, which required a boat or an airship to reach from the coastline of the city. _I never knew how much preparation it took as a kid… Everything seemed so much easier—so much simpler—as a kid… _

"Well I be darned," a raspy voice interrupted his thoughts. "If it isn't Mista' Jae! Haven't seen you 'round in a while. What brings ya off the island? Need a breather from the kids?" He laughed, heartily, and roughly pat Ryung on the back.

"No, no, it's nothing like that, Chen," he replied, letting a little smile crack on his face. "Just another meeting with Zander, begging me on the council again. I honestly don't know why I still reach out to his continuous pleas."

Ryung got himself situated on the small motor boat as he had done countless times before in his life. Chen wasn't an Air Acolyte like most of his mother's friends, but he always lent a hand with transportation, being a well-versed captain across every stretch of the Yue Bay.

"Well, I wouldn't worry 'bout it." The engine coughed up, abruptly. Ryung glanced at his wrinkled, bony face. He had white, short, and thinning hair above ocean, blue eyes, and dark, tan skin. He wore a white, sleeveless shirt covered in sweat and baggy, green pants that were ripped in many places. Though Ryung found his most prominent feature to be his salty scent.

"These here things tend to work themselves out…" The boat quickly left the dock with a roar, before quieting down once it reached a certain speed. The wind hollered in his ears and pushed his hair back. It felt refreshing, being outside with the sound of waves crashing around the outskirts of the tiny boat.

"I suppose," Ryung Jae muttered to himself.

He stared ahead at the ebony rocks and large, scenic hills that were visible on the faded Air Temple Island. Despite living here for thirty-six years, the view never quite lost its appeal to him. He silently watched the distant island until finally, it engulfed their surroundings.

"Well, here we are: Air Temple Island!" Chen exclaimed lively.

Ryung cautiously stepped out of the swaying boat and firmly planted his feet on the white sand. He stretched his arms and legs leisurely and looked back behind him. "I can't thank you enough, Chen."

"It's no bother!" he responded with a swipe of his hand. "Tell Yuna I said hi… and Aerika and Lavanya as well," he added as an afterthought.

"Will do." Ryung waved his hand and marched up toward the tall temple which marked the center of the island.

The usual sound of chaos greeted him once he entered the temple. He assumed Yuna and his kids were probably having lunch, but he ignored it for a short while. Ryung couldn't piece it all out in his head, yet, but his mind was set on something Zander had mentioned during their short meeting.

He slid open a dusty closet, opened a large bag and tentatively took out the contents.

Cupped in his hand was one of the many Airbending Robes that he had ceased to wear after he mastered airbending. It was a brown, thick, and layered robe that felt soft and loose. _Could I ever walk around in this again? Without getting killed?_ Ryung Jae wondered. _How'd Mom react if she knew that I've shunned away our ancestry in a closet?_ The thought alone made him grimace.

_Please…forgive me, Mother._

* * *

"Nilak" 尼罗河

Despite being in Republic City for half a week already, every day seemed bizarre to Nilak. Although the initial chaos of the first few days had pulled over, the jam-packed city was still a harsh adjustment to the spacious, peaceful home in the Northern Water Tribe Nilak had lived in for the past 29 years of his life. Though he wouldn't dare imagine how much worse it might have been had Taige not been around to help. He felt like he was developing somewhat of a routine already thanks to her.

Taige was by his side for a vast majority of each day, despite not working as of yet. Nilak didn't realise how much more Republic City operated on oral communication. _I suppose having stores and restaurants are the reason for that… _It was only clear to him while he was buying chairs for his apartment in a busy warehouse. At the time he felt guilty, all too aware it took probably twice as long for him to finish paying compared to those who were in front of him. Needing Taige to direct everything turned out to be quite time consuming for transactions. Being a mute never felt so blatantly disruptive while he was growing up.

Luckily, being around Taige so much has made Nilak really appreciate her. She was awfully energetic, positive, and prone to rambling. Though, admittedly, some may find her annoying, it fit very well with Nilak since he could not really chime in on a conversation smoothly without a voice. It was pretty easy to figure out why it was so hard for him to make many friends before…

Nilak plopped down onto the further of the two booths at their table. He took a deep breath as the atmosphere calmed down significantly now that they were indoors.

"Okay!" Taige exclaimed, rubbing her hands together. "Well we have a little under two hours to eat and City Hall is on the other side of the street at the end of the block." She pointed towards the window at a spectacular building painted white that was hard to miss despite only having half the right of the wall in plain site at this angle.

Nilak stiffly nodded. A waitress came by the table soon after.

"Hi, welcome to Wei Odakim! My name's Tylda; can I start you out with something to drink?" She smiled, glossing over the pair of them.

Taige turned to Nilak and he instinctively tugged down over the table, like he was holding a cloth. "Um…" Taige let out. "Oh, right! Sorry… He'd like milk please and…. I guess I'll have some water."

The waitress's smile changed as if she was trying to play along with a joke they were doing. "All right…I'll be back in a minute." For whatever reason, the gesture nagged at Nilak once she left.

"What's up?" Taige asked him. It must've shown on his face.

Nilak decided to come straight out with it. '_Am I funny to you?'_ He signed, looking quizzical.

"Well yeah, you're pretty funny," Taige answered brightly.

Nilak's heart sunk and he felt distraught at the unexpectedly blunt response.

"Wait—what exactly did you mean?" Taige retracted, surprised at the dismal reaction she received.

'_It's just when I'm talking with outside people, they always seem to be holding back laughter or speaking to me like I'm a child. It feels really degrading, sometimes.' _

"It's not their fault," she answered. "Most folks just aren't used to different kinds of people so they don't know how to treat them when they are in the situation. In the end they think too much about it and it comes off as unnatural."

'_You sound like you have some personal experience with these kinds of things.' _Nilak fingered, curious.

"Yeah…" Taige said, distantly. "My mother—er—went through some hearing loss over the past fifteen years or so. She was deaf within the first five years. It was obvious her family treated her differently at reunions ever since. To this day it really annoys her."

'_Oh, I'm sorry.' _Nilak didn't expect anything serious to come up from the topic.

"It's fine," Taige murmured, indifferently. "It was her being deaf that prompted me to become a linguist in the first place." She smiled, broadly. "I didn't want to feel like there was something that separated us like that. I wanted to still be able to relate with her in the natural and open manner I've been comfortable with my whole life. "

After a few moments of silence, the waitress returned with their beverages. They decided to have a small lunch, consisting mostly of rice, shrimp, dumplings, and a large bowl of fried noodles they shared. It was a quiet, yet comfortable meal. Neither one seemed very interested in discussions as the meeting for the council was drawing near. A half hour before it started, Taige eventually got up and led Nilak back out in Downtown Republic City.

As the building straightened itself out in Nilak's view, his stomach swirled, uncomfortably. Looking to the side of the building made it look beautiful and elegant; however at its front, it appeared intimidating and strangely menacing.

It had blank, white walls with some shiny, brass peaks on the corners of the building and another plate looming over the entrance. On the center of the roof was a great, green skylight in the shape of a dome. Even in his anxious state, Nilak was impressed by the ornate building.

"We still have some time before the meeting starts so I guess we can check out your office!" Taige said excited as they started to climb the marble steps of the front entrance. She opened one of the large doors but quickly backed up and let a tall man through. He had short, ebony hair that was well groomed. On a long, crooked nose he had small spectacles. It was clear he was flustered about something from his gaunt expression.

However he muttered "Thanks" and glanced first at Taige, then Nilak. She nodded curtly in response and the man quickly left them.

Once they were inside, Nilak lightly tapped Taige on the right shoulder to get her attention. She was all but used to it by now.

"Hm?" She abruptly stopped.

'_Who was that?' _he asked.

"You don't know Ryung Jae?" she asked, mildly surprised. "He's a former council member and pretty much the only public face of the Air Family. You know since all the other ones relatives are in hiding…"

Nilak gawked. '_He's an airbender?!'_

"Yup," Taige nodded. She started off again.

Nilak's befuddlement made him follow, sluggishly, after a few seconds.

The spacious interior of the City Hall had a unique style of decorations. The iron panes and aluminum tiles alongside many other assortments of metal made the historical monument seem like an complex fortress.

Most of the offices were on the fifth floor of the building; including his own. Taige had pointed this out while they went up the stairs. It was fairly easy to confirm after Nilak had surveyed most of the lower floors without seeing any offices.

"Excuse me! Pardon me!" Nilak caught a distant voice call from behind. He tapped Taige's shoulder again and they both stopped and turned around.

A large, muscular man in a khaki trench coat came up to them. "Taige is it?" he asked as he entered hearing distance.

"Yes…?" she asked, confused.

"My name is Annovi Bao Yu; we talked earlier on the phone?" Now that Annovi was close to them, Nilak noticed he had a brown handlebar moustache, but otherwise didn't have any hair on his head. His bald head made his extraordinarily tan skin so prominent to Nilak, he felt like Annovi was emitting a strange glow.

"Ah, it's nice to finally meet you in person, Councilman Annovi," she said with a bow.

"Just call me Anno. Annovi's a bit of a mouthful," Annovi said, heartily. "So is this Nilak?" It seemed like he just noticed Nilak.

"Yup! Nilak, this is the head councilman representing the Earthen Empire."

Anno extended a bulky hand in front of him. Nilak instinctively took it, but regretted doing so immediately. Anno's firm grip felt like it was crushing the bones of his hands.

"Sorry to interrupt your—er—exploration around City Hall, but the rest of the council members arrived early; so we figured we'd start early. If you would follow me, I'll take you to the council room…" He started off back towards the staircase.

Taige glimpsed at Nilak at a second, dumbfounded. He rattled his shaken hand and mouthed an "Ow!" with his mouth. Taige giggled uncontrollably as they both followed behind Councilman Anno.

Nilak felt certain he would've collapsed from the anxiety he faced, going into the council room, had it not been for the long introduction of the other members who were all sitting down when they arrived.

The pale and bony man on the far right of the table was Karcsi Jurou, representing the Fire Nation. His black, long hair and goatee gave off a dark and daring demeanor. much unlike Anno,who sat beside Karcsi. Passed an open chair that no doubt was the spot for the Air Nation, a beautiful, young woman named Cecilia Molina, sat in place of the Southern Water Tribe. Her glamorous, black hair was short and tied tightly behind her. Anno had placed a small chair between Cecilia and Nilak's for Taige.

"Well!" Anno called with a clap of his hands after everyone was seated and situated with a large glass of water. "Let's get started then, shall we?"

Karcsi cleared his throat. "You wanted me to keep you posted on Rohan's case?" His voice was smooth, yet indescribably slyful.

Anno nodded in response. "Well he's been convicted by the jury. The punishment is still being argued over. Fifteen years, most likely…" Karcsi continued, grimly.

The head councilman grimaced, devastated. He sighed and rubbed his face in his hand, irritable. "This is not good… Ryung will not take this lightly."

"Well, maybe if he was on the _council_, he could have done something about it," Cecilia retorted hotly.

'_What is this about?' _Nilak signed, curious. However the words he expected to hear moments later were not spoken.

"Don't be ridiculous," Karcsi snapped, impatiently. "You know perfectly well, councilman or not, Ryung would have no say in his own Uncle's case! No doubt he will go ballistic when he hears of this. He is far too… impetuous with personal matters." Cecilia glared at the firebender with pure malice.

Nilak looked over towards Taige, confused. She was fixated on the discussion in front of her. It was too far away for him to tap her like usual without getting up and disrupting everyone. He stared at her face, momentarily. _Come on…. Look at me! _

"Everyone, please," Anno interrupted, calmly. "I know it is frustrating not having Ryung with us anymore but there's no need to hold it against him." Nilak failed to keep his attention, frustrated at Taige's unresponsive behavior. _What's the point if I don't have my voice?! _He started to shake his right hand near his head in hopes she would eventually notice.

"Hold it against him? _Hold it against him?!_" Cecilia looked baffled. "The council of Republic City _cannot _function with only three members and he's keeping idle for what? _Babysitting?_"

Anger was now fuming from Nilak now. _So I'm just invisible?! _He rubbed the side of his chin obnoxiously, knowing no one would notice. _This is embarrassing…_

"I'll figure something out…" Anno assured, defensively. "All that's important is that in the meantime we just—"

A loud shatter split across the room and abruptly cut off the conversation. Nilak had furiously thrown his glass at the wall with all his strength. The entire council as well as Taige gaped at him, bewildered beyond comprehensive thought.

_Oh sure, now they notice me._ He continued to clench his fist as he stood up with only the creak of his chair uttering inside the room. After scanning the entire room with a glare as fierce as the sun, he gave them a mocking bow and headed out through the room without a single glance behind him.

* * *

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

The chilly breeze hit his cheeks hard. He shivered violently and gloomily exited TǔGuǐ station. It was never a pleasant experience, being at the beginning point of the daily rotation.

_Let's just get this over with._

He sluggishly dragged his way along the usual path past the Northern Market and through Zhēnx's Triangle. Sooner than he hoped, the academy slowly came into sight and with it, another wave of misery.

"HEY Reia!" a deep voice shouted out from behind. Confused, Reia turned his head towards the voice.

He felt something drive straight into his back and felt his body shoot upwards. The cold wind was now only a prop for his plummeting body as he smacked down onto the ground. He groaned, nauseated from the harsh spinning in the air. Reiatsu laid on the floor of the courtyard for several moments in silent pain. The distant laughter of a few seemed to glue him to the ground.

"Aha—catch you later, man!" After popping his head up, he found the face he saw only a hint of beforehand walking along with a small group who laughed hysterically as they entered Kotai Academy.

"Oh come on!" Reia yelled at their backs. "I've never even met you!"

He grumpily found his classroom, prepared to situate himself in the back, when he noticed the room was empty. _Great! Now what?_

Reiatsu looked around at the surrounding crowd before seeing a familiar face to his dismay.

"Jakyri! What's going on? My classroom's empty," he said angrily.

A large, muscular man faced him, reluctantly. He had short, wavy hair and large, green eyes.

"Ugh—Don't you pay attention to, like, _anyone?_" he asked, irritable. "Today there is some kind of ceremony or something that every class is going to this morning. It's being held in the Redemption Ring."

"For someone lecturing me about paying attention, you seem to know very little about this ceremony as well." Reia muttered instinctively, glaring up at Jakyri.

"Oh shut up," Jakyri snapped. "If Avani didn't specifically ask me to be easy on you I swear you'd already be in your grave."

Reia soundlessly went off towards the Redemption stadium, remembering Avani's earlier discussion of Jakyri a couple weeks ago:

"_Reia?" Avani said with her naturally hardened, unconcerned tone. "You know Jakyri isn't all that bad once you get to know him." She took another bite from what had to be her third moon peach._

_Reia exhaled, after a large sip of the warm, soothing taste of jasmine tea still fresh in his mouth. "To be honest, I don't know what you see in him; he's just like any other jock in the school." He placed his cup down, feeling full with the food he already ate._

"_I don't 'see' anything in him," Avani snapped, eyes cold with anger. It was pretty obvious she was blushing but Reia did not wish to be thrown out of the restaurant's window, so he kept quiet. "We're just friends and I admit he's a cool guy. Is that so difficult to grasp." she said, exasperated._

"_Okay, okay!" Reia answered defensively._

_The waitress' return stopped any further bombardment Avani was undoubtedly about to give him, luckily._

"_Is everything all right?" she asked, merrily._

"_Yeah," Reia spoke, automatically. Avani droned in her glass in agreeance to Reia._

"_Do you two lovers need anything else? I'd be happy to—" She cut off, alarmed. Avani coughed violently, choking on her drink._

"_Love—ahem—ers?!" Her face heated up, livid at the misconception._

Reia saw the large doors of what must be the stadium, he only had been around this part of the school once before. They were a beautiful, polished mahogany encased in stainless steel with circular windows in each door. _Well I see now why people call them the daunting doors…_

Grabbing onto one of the cold, steel doors he opened it before getting pushed into the wall by a firm arm.

"Reia!" an excited Avani said, pinning him to the wall. "Earth sages are here today!" She triumphantly raised her fists, letting him free.

"Would you—would you stop doing that!" Reia barked, rubbing his aching shoulders tenderly.

"Oh don't be such a wimp." Avani waved him off indifferently.

"Why do you care about a bunch of earth sages anyway?" Reia asked, strained still by the stinging pain in his back.

"Because, I can get some support from one of them in the Cu-Fe tournament and be able to pay for all the equipment I need," she stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

_I hope that doesn't happen. _Reia had nabbed some of his father's money in order to secretly buy Avani some decent equipment as a present for her upcoming birthday. _Not likely Zeke would ever notice, anyway._

"Anyway let's go!" She practically dragged him into the stadium with her bulky hands. Only a few meters in, Reia knocked against her now stationary back. "Uhm—What is this?"

Once Reia recomposed himself, he too was puzzled by the strange, archaic chair that sat in the middle of the arena. A giant circle was carved in the tan rock, surrounding the chair. It was separated into four sections with water, rocks, and a small fire in three different ones, and the last one was left baron. Overall, Reia felt like the chair was animated, and studying him head-to-toe.

"Would everyone please find a seat within the stadium!" a booming voice called out, emerging from the below the stands in a small, metal door. He was dressed in strange, green robes that ran down to his ankles, concealing his entire body. "My name is Cheng and as you might've already noticed," Cheng continued to announce as several other figures cloaked in the same green robes as him came out behind him. "we are Earth Sages."

Reia sat down after Avani plopped down, heavily, peering at the chair suspiciously.

"Now then," he stated almost casually once everyone was seated. "If you're wondering why exactly we are here, it is because we—along with many others— were sent out to discover who the next Avatar is." Several groans escaped the audience at the mention of the new Avatar. Cheng seemed not to have heard it. "If you could all be patient for about half an hour, we can go through all of you in no time. I'll go alphabetically by last name. Please come up and sit down in this chair when I call your name. The spirits will do the rest. Hmm—" He pulled out a long list that unraveled once he conjured it from an inner coat pocket. "Suya Ai. We'll start with you."

"Yeah—let the _loving_ spirits handle it," a senior whispered to his two friends. They smiled, gauntly. It seemed they were afraid of the chair now that Cheng had explained what it is for.

"I can't believe the school is letting the Earth Sages use that—that demon chair…" Avani said with a shudder.

"Why do you hate the spirits so much?" Reia asked, somewhat amused. This sure wasn't the first time she had complained about them.

"They destroy villages, ruin people's lives, sometimes even kill people just because they see us like ants—isn't that reason enough?" Avani questioned, baffled by the lack of support she was receiving.

Reiatsu sat silently. It felt like there was more history Avani had with the spirits than she was letting on. He soon found himself staring at the chair with a sense of anxious wonder. For some reason his eyes were glued to the antiquated piece of furniture for some time. _She does have a point._

The process was tedious and, at times, at a standstill from some people protesting once their names were called. Avani backed up all objections, fiercely; however, they all eventually caved in.

"They'll have to bind me into that chair before I do so willingly. Well… that is _if _they can bind me into that chair. Hah!" She gave a mischievous smirk.

"Well then it's a good thing your last, or we'd be waiting quite awhile." Reia smiled. She didn't seem convinced the humor was appropriate. "Look," he tried again, turning towards her, "everyone who has sat there has turned out perfectly fine—nothing's happened. It's just some ancient chair that's used for the sake of tradition or something." Avani still remained uncomfortably stiff; but she did manage to keep quiet through the rest of the process.

"Reiatsu Kintaro," Cheng finally called out.

He felt his blood rush to his head. _What? There's_ _got to be some sort of mistake, I'm—_

The sudden amassed attention made him cut off and attempt to remember what acting normal was like. He walked down the stairs, making the only noise in the entire stadium. This silence felt far more rigid than it did when he was sitting. His heart was pounding in his chest, trying to keep a far more casual posture than he was feeling.

After climbing the stairs and walking along the sturdy rocks into the center, he finally spoke. "Er—sir? I believe you made a mistake. You see…I'm a nonbender and I—"

"We decided to include _everyone_ within the age credential, just in case," Cheng answered with his abnormally boisterous tone.

Reia made no further argument before sitting in the uncomfortable obstinate chair. The many spotlights pierced mercilessly at him. _It's so bright up here._ He felt his nerves rising at the staring eyes of his audience in what now seems like dark seats.

_Never mind them, just try to relax._

Reiatsu closed his eyes.

His muscles began to slackened as he felt his arms warm up from the rising sun.

_Wait a minute… _Something wasn't right. _The stadium's underground!_ As if hearing his thoughts, the heat continued to get hotter and hotter until it felt like his insides were _burning._ His muscles instinctively tightened all across his body as pain started to surface. Once it reached a breaking point, it felt like the fire broke free and rushed straight through all four of his limbs. Yet the agony was minuscule compared to when the fire raged up through his neck and around his scalp. It sat, centralized in his temple for several moments. The intensity made his continuous screams seem ghostly. It was like nothing else in the world existed except the suffering of the most intense migraine he ever experienced. The anguish in his head soon began to fog up his vision and dizziness swept in as he swayed in and out of consciousness. Reia was falling…falling endlessly.


	3. Divine Destiny

Chapter 3:

Divine Destiny

"Ryung Jae" ईबहलु ऱोा

Yuna had her tongue out in concentration. She was washing dishes in the bright kitchen, an hour past midday. They had just finished lunch and Ryung was feeling fed up with training Aerika today. It wasn't irregular for her airbending lessons to turn into some kind of argument. Lavanya, although far more considerate, was a firebender like her mother. _What I wouldn't give to switch roles with you, dear. _Yuna was the one who taught Lavanya her firebending.

The youngest in their family, Kalden, was also an airbender, to Ryung's dismay. _I hope when he's old enough, he'll at least be less stubborn than Aerika._

"What exactly are you doing here?" Yuna asked, now noticing Ryung was still sitting at the large table.

"What I can't just be taking a few minutes out of my day to admire my beautiful wife?" Ryung Jae said, mimicking a sheepish tone.

"Nice try, but no." Yuna laughed putting down the plate she was working on. "What is it this time? The kids on your nerves again?"

"Perhaps," Ryung admitted. "But I was thinking about something else." He stated, tentatively. "Now don't blow up when I tell you… I'm thinking about going out of retirement. I might—kinda—sorta consider rejoining the council."

"What?!" Yuna exploded. Fire had fumed at the sink for half a second at her outrage. "Ryung, you can't be serious! You know how—"

"I know, I know!" Ryung interrupted. "It's just that I feel like I'm just pushing away these problems… And—and soon they won't just be my problems but they'll become our kids' problems if I stand around and do nothing to make Republic City a better place for them. You're not an airbender; you don't understand how oppressive and dangerous it is to be the spiritual element during such dark times."

"But you're wrong!" his wife hollered back at him. "I've given birth to two airbenders! I've wed an airbender! I'm _part _of an airbending family! Why must you try and push me away from this? I thought we agreed that we'd face our problems together!? Why are you trying to tackle everything on your own?!"

"I can't explain it properly!" Ryung screwed up his face, troubled. "As much as I love you and as much as I would love to share this problem with you, there is only so much you can understand on the outside."

"Then let me in…" Yuna pleaded softly.

"I can't… No one can…Only the spirits have that kind of power," he answered, miserable.

Yuna turned back around, picking up her plate and continued scrubbing it. She seemed to be shaking slightly; it pained Ryung's heart when he heard her sniffling.

_I'm not trying to be mean. This is just—this is just the way things work… Why can't you understand that?_

He tore his eyes away from the kitchen and looked through the shiny, glass panes that showed off an incredible view. The green trees brushed up against each other at the call of a peaceful breeze. He could distantly here the crashing of the shining, blue waves on the rocks now that all was quiet inside. A few small birds flew from tree to tree with an occasional chirp.

Despite how lively the outside world was, Ryung could not lighten up while he knew Yuna was so depressed.

A distant cry from a baby came out and interrupted his gloomy thoughts. "Don't forget, the girls want to go into the city today." Yuna croaked, after walking to the stairs, where Kalden was calling out for her.

"Come on, Dad!"

"Hurry up you big slow poke!" Aerika and Lavanya had started to sprint ahead on the sidewalk looking back at Ryung, who was grudgingly trying to keep up.

They were just coming across Central City Station in a far more deserted Republic City since it was still early in the afternoon.

"Oh! Can I have this?! Please, Dad?! Please?!" Lavanya was planting her small head into the glass displays of a nearby store. There was a small box under several small torches.

"Ichiro's Mecha Fireworks…" Ryung read aloud once he reached her jittery body. "Light up the end for easy, automatic, homemade fireworks." He frowned. "What do you want fireworks for?"

"To use them. Duh." Lavanya answered, flatly, rolling her blue eyes. Her perfectly straight, black hair was tied in a tight knot. Her skin was a much paler shade than Aerika's naturally tan surface.

"What? On the island?" Ryung Jae scoffed with a laugh. "Absolutely not."

"You're no fun!" Aerika's gold eyes squinted into a scowl. Her messy, brown, shoulder length hair fluttered after she looked away.

_Perhaps Yuna is right. _Ryung suddenly thought as he watched his two daughters frantically search for an alternative item through the window. _I have more to think about than just me. If I rejoined the council, I could be putting my family in harms way._

"Hey what about this?" Aerika dashed into the store and went over to where a bunch of medium sized boxes were piled. Ryung automatically trailed Lavanya inside and noticed Aerika was wearing a gear-shaped monocle clearly too large for her. He smiled at her and picked up one of the red boxes and read the description.

"Let me try it on," he said, smiling. Aerika handed him the monocle. "What do you think?"

"It looks ridiculous on you," she said, unimpressed.

"Oh does it?" her father asked, mischievously.

Ryung Jae pressed against the top right tooth of the gear-lense as if pressing a button. Water squirted out of the monocle and landed on Aerika's head. Lavanya was overcome by a fit of laughter immediately. Aerika, however, stood still unable to contain her wide smile until she cackled as well. Ryung joined in, heartily.

In the end it had convinced Ryung enough to get three of the monocles before they continued on the road. They passed the iron statue of Fire Lord Zuko, who held a fire in his right hand. Ryung could not recall ever seeing the fire extinguished from the many trips he had made to Central City Station before.

"Dad! Dad! Can I get a lemur?" Aerika exclaimed after noticing a pet store almost an hour later.

"Eh—well, I don't know…" Ryung said, uncomfortably. "A pet's a big responsibility…"

"I swear I'll take care of it!" Aerika said eagerly.

_She's never asked for a pet before._"What is with your sudden interest in having a lemur?" Ryung asked, quizzically.

Aerika pointed a short finger at a large cage of ring-tailed winged lemurs. "Oh just look at them! They're adorable!" Lavanya snickered at her sister's excitement.

"You know what? We could use a pet on the island now that I think about it. Will you promise to take care of it?" Ryung asked, surprising even himself of his decision.

"You—you mean it?!" Aerika gasped. Lavanya also had her mouth slightly ajar, staring at her father. Ryung grinned and nodded. Aerika tried to suppress her joy as best as she could and gave a serious face. "I promise."

They went into what seemed like the fiftieth shop that day. Aerika was tugging gently at Ryung's leg, unable to stay still while they walked. _Yuna's going to kill me for this one._ Once inside, both of Ryung's girls went off in different directions.

The entire process was slow and tedious, making Ryung regret going through the trouble. There were several documents and insurance policies that made the whole transaction take an hour and a half. Not to mentions this was after the forty-five minute wait on Aerika's decision on which lemur she wanted out of the dozen that were there.

She decided to name it Chenpo. That was probably the only thing she decided on without any trouble. Though the wide smile that she had throughout the tiring process—the liveliness of her eyes once she held the small lemur in her small, skinny arms, made everything worthwhile for Ryung once it was all over. He casted a weary smile as they exited the small store.

Although that only lasted for several minutes as they came across some sort of disturbance on the far street near Yue Bay. There were many gasps and almost everyone started to run towards the large crowd and get a glimpse, their selves.

"You two wait here," Ryung called out over the noise of the crowd. "_Do not_ get separated, do you hear me?"

They nodded rigidly.

Sprinting down the road, Ryung continued to look at the oncoming cluster of people until he merged into them. Being naturally light on his feet, he maneuvered around each person with ease, until it was clear as to the source of the panic.

He was looking at Air Temple Island like he'd never gazed at it before. The statue of his great-grandfather's eyes were glistening a bright enough blue that it burned his eyes in the middle of the broad daylight.

* * *

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

Reiatsu found himself in the infirmary of Kotai Academy. Glancing at the wall, he laid still, feeling outside of the progression of time. It seemed to sit still. A reflex hammer and a stethoscope were hanging against the wall on a rack. Although it seemed like they were a part of the wall because of how long Reia had been staring at it. Everything ached and his head stung with every slight bit of movement he had dared to try earlier.

Though despite how still he was, his mind was foggy and felt like it could not focus. The only thing that ran through it was preventing further pain when he had attempted to turn around. He heard footsteps every so often as well as a lot of voices in the hallways. _What… What happened?_ He finally managed to muster.

Some more footsteps came from across the hall. These were somehow different. They were composed—rhythmic with one another.

"I don't understand," a vague voice said.

"How could you? It makes no sense. There must be some kind of mistake." The quiet voices were raising in volume.

"Shhh!" a third hissed. It was only a few seconds of silence before the door creaked open and let what looked like six earth sages inside. _I—the chair!_ Reia managed to bluster. Their appearance suddenly drilled all the memories back into his head.

"How did this… happen?" he called out hoarsely. Suddenly he had the urge to cough. _No…please… _His attempts to refrain only delayed it by a few seconds. He involuntarily coughed, feeling an intense pain heat up in his abdomen.

"We are not sure, Avatar Reiatsu," the leader spoke up. "Brothers and sisters, please give me some time alone with him. Thank you," he added as they all exited the small medical wing.

The Sage waited until the door was firmly shut before speaking again. "Do you remember my name, Avatar?"

"Stop calling me that," Reiatsu snapped.

"My apologies, Reiatsu." The man, bowed his head slightly.

Clearly he missed what Reia meant, but _The_ _Avatar_ did not have the energy to point it out.

"Do I remember your name?" Reiatsu repeated, astounded. "I'm sorry the whole being burnt alive thing must've made my memory a little fuzzy," he snarled.

"Er—right, sorry," the earth sage said. "My name is Cheng." He had a greying, trimmed beard to match his short, grey hair, brown eyes, and wrinkling, tan skin. "I know I don't have much to offer you, but do you want me to stick around for a while? It seems lonely in here."

"No—please—Just leave me be." Reia grimaced, turning to his side again.

"Very well," Cheng said hesitantly. A few moments of silence lagged before Reia heard Cheng's footsteps and then the opening and closing of the door.

_ZEKE!_ It occurred to Reia finally once he was alone again. _Does he know?! How long have I been out?!_ He frantically searched around the wall but could not find any sign of a clock. _I need to get moving—He's going to kill me! _Reia's heart sped up, frantically. _I need to get out of Kotai—that's obvious… But how? And then what?_

Reia sat up too quickly and felt his head swirl violently. He adjusted his arms on the soft mattress for support. _It's hard enough to just get out of this bed. _Steadying his body, he planted his bare feet on the stone cold floor made of black marble. It took at least five minutes for him to actually let his legs take some of his weight but once he did, it was shortly after that he fully stood up. He slowly went across the room, leaning on the wall until he stopped at a sink.

Reiatsu splashed cold water on his face, practically bathing in it. The chill had washed away the shadow of his lethargic brain. He now felt as ready as he would ever be to face the mirror.

To his surprise there was no burnt skin from where he could see. The only thing that was close to it was an outline of pink skin, but the area of the outline was far more terrifying.

_What—What is this?! _Reia felt his stomach drop.

Two slim arrows ran across every part of his body within his field of view. One was red and the other was blue. At his hands, they formed like the tail of a dragon, split two centimeters apart from each other. _I can't believe I didn't notice the ones on my arms while I was laying in bed…_ On his right arm the red was side was on the outside and the blue was on the inside. However, on the left side, it was the opposite. Reia cautiously looked down and noticed the same sinister pattern on his feet—although the same colors were also inverted in location to his hands.

His clothes were neatly folded on a chair near the exit. It felt embarrassing that it was so difficult and painful to do something as simple as putting clothes on. It took countless time as well as many hisses and curses of pain. When he resurfaced to look at the mirror again he noticed his bottom lip had started bleeding he bit it so hard.

Reia leaned closer to the mirror as he tried to tend to the wound. When he moved his head, he noticed there was a faint red on the left side of his forehead. _Is that blood?! _He moved the bangs of his hair and say the same dragon tail, red and blue, split in the middle in a perfect alignment to his nose. He let out a deep breath in relief. _I don't think my heart can take much more of this._

Reia peaked his head outside keeping the door pressed against his cheek.

"Yes, Avatar Reiatsu?" a woman's voice spoke, stiffly. The noise startled him into knocking his head into the ajar door.

"Argh! What are you doing here?" Reiatsu questioned, nursing the side of his face with his left hand.

"Guarding the door." she answered tensely.

_Oh yeah… Avatar thing—right…._

"I'm….not aloud to leave, am I?" Reia asked, gloomy.

"You need to get some rest. You shouldn't even be walking around so soon," the woman stated. _I'll take that as a no._

Reiatsu grimly drooped his head along the door. "I'm dead! It's official! Zeke might as well fill out the forms already!"

"What are you talking about, Avatar?" The green, cloaked woman suddenly looked at him for the first time, concerned. "You are perfectly safe with the earth sages around to protect you." But she didn't understand how powerful Zeke was. How he could compel them to hand him over in a heartbeat.

_As long as I'm in Kotai, I'm never safe. _Reia sighed deeply before starting up again. "I'm very sorry about this."

"Hm?"

He slammed the door wide open and the Sage screamed in pain, pulling her hand out of the door's grasp a moment too late. Reia grabbed her injured hand without hesitation and jabbed in the inside of her elbow. It flopped over and exposed her back. He shoved his fingers near the center of her spine and within a second she lay paralysed on the floor.

His head shook in severe pain from his violent movements. _I don't have much time—I need to keep moving before someone discovers her. _Though after a few steps forward, Reia looked back at her tentatively. She stared back with an expression Reiatsu never had been given before: Fear.

It stung Reiatsu hard enough that he realized he wasn't paying attention to where he was going for the first two hallways. There was an abnormally large amount of people in the hallways today but it seemed most of the school was none the wiser on the situation. Reia tried his best to avoid any suspicious behavior but his legs were very jittery now being around a crowd of people. He felt more paranoid as _Avatar Reiatsu_ than he had ever felt the need to be as _Zhur Reiatsu._

It felt like he was in a tunnel trying to find the exit for hours, even though he knew exactly where to go and the whole ordeal only took twenty minutes. His nerves seemed to really have been messing with his perception of time. _If any one of these people know I am the Avatar they'll try to kill me no doubt._

"Reiatsu! Come back!" one of the other Earth Sages called out across the hall. _No—no! You imbecile! _Reia froze in place, trying to blend in like the shadow people always acted like he was. _But that was no ordinary shadow to them. That was Zeke's shadow. _In two seconds it seemed he had confirmed his theory. The hall started to quiet down with students suspiciously glancing at each other.

"There!"someone called out behind him. Without hesitation, Reiatsu started to push people out of the way and ran down the hallway. He heard the crash of several windows before an outburst of pain echoed from an unlucky bystander. The very earth shook once chaos broke out inside the crowded school.

Surprisingly, going through the mayhem was a lot easier than ten minutes ago when the school was unsuspicious. Reia knew there was nothing left to salvage and didn't need to pull off any more deception as he ran through the main hall of the school. Everyone was too occupied in engaging in a fight or avoiding one that they hardly noticed Reia or his guilty behavior of fleeing.

The noise and sprinting made him stop momentarily again; his head was swaying even more out of control than before. _No! We're so close! I can see the doors now!_

He steadied himself on a wall for several seconds, hoping against all hope that no one would notice his momentary weakness.

It seemed he was just as fortunate this time. Once his vision cleared up and his thoughts resurfaced, he started jogging to the doors. His lungs protested with every inhalation but he kept going at the same pace until he reached the main doors.

Reia pushed all his weight into the door but it only pushed against the hinges to his dismay. "It's locked! You've got to be kiddin—!" A powerful force of wind skinned across his face half a second before he heard the deafening shatter of the glass door right in front of him. A short guy laid on the concrete of the front yard, moaning in his daze.

Reia looked behind his shoulder, wildly, and found an extremely large jock clapping his hands together, admiring his work like it was an art of some sorts. _Well I guess that works._

Making sure not to cut himself, Reia cleared past the opening of the jagged glass and continued his sprint forward until he was at the edge of the yard of the Academy. A familiar person came into view.

_Wait—is that Avani?!_ He baffled seeing a figure glancing along the Courier Trench in the far distant. His heart raced faster than his legs as her features became more certain.

"AVANI!" Reia exclaimed, relieved. "Thank the spirits you're here! I was so nervous that I would never see you again! We need to get out of here! The School is absolutely mental and—" He stopped.

Something wasn't right. Avani continued to lean against the fence, as still as a statue. She didn't even look like she was breathing.

"I have only one question," she finally spoke, turning around. Reia flinched. His friend's tone was ice-cold. The glare of Avani's green eyes matched Jakyri's usual expression upon noticing Reia. "Why? Why let the spirits taint your warm heart?"

Reia felt dizzy for what seemed like the fiftieth time today, but he knew all too well that it was not from physical exertion this time. "Wha—What are you talking about?" Reiatsu asked timidly.

"Nevermind," Avani sighed, lips trembling.

For a second, Reia felt that Avani was just messing with him as she dropped the question. The thought was quickly demolished by a hard rock that propelled into his chest with a heavy _thump_. Reia was knocked backwards several meters until he hit the ground. He coughed in pain from the sudden force before lifting his head, puzzled.

"Avani what are you doing?!" he shouted, slowly getting back on his feet. Though Avani made no response other than raising her arms for another blow. Her green eyes now had a blazing fire in them that melted away the cold.

After a pause, she bent another rock at him apparently unable to understand Reiatsu's cries of objection. It seemed like it didn't matter what he said, though. Nothing was going stop her and that only made Reia more afraid. He barely managed to duck under the earth that sling-shotted at his head this time. _S__he's going to kill me!_ A sudden panic emerged in Reia after noticing her face was full of resolve. He abandon his attempts of reason and made a break for the street.

Despite Reia's natural speed, Avani was more disciplined and practiced. She slowly closed in on him until she tackled him from behind. Head pounding, Reiatsu struggled as Avani pinned him down with her far superior strength. He looked at her blurry face, now noticing tears were freely streaming down the corner of her eyes and glistening on her cheeks. She pulled out a chunk of dirt off the ground and sharpened it like a long knife.

"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" Avani bellowed mournfully.

A thunderous roar shattered Reia's fearful thoughts. Two enormous, black pipelines snapped from below and sank deep into Avani' hovering shoulders. She was shot through the air by the vicious pipes before the thick tubes tied her to the ground, like a snake.

Reia's legs no longer seemed to properly function when he tried to get up again. He couldn't really blame them after all of this.

"Reia! We need to go! Are you all right?! Can you walk?" a habitual voice called out, running up to him. _It can't be…_

"Kei—Keito?!" Reia gasped, now seeing his twin's stern face. He felt his helpless body being lifted and then led to a black and gold, steam car. Reia did his best to carry his weight but he ended up limping with an arm around Keito's shoulder. Keito immediately shut the door when Reia was safely inside and went around to the driver's seat. Dreamlike, the academy slowly faded away behind the large buildings of Kotai.

* * *

"Nilak" 尼罗河

The chilly wind bit at Nilak's face and hissed in his ears. His mouth felt dry, irritably reminding him of his growing thirst. Even with such a short walk, it was so crowded and cold. It was safe to assume Republic City was a lot denser after six. _If I said that when I arrived a couple weeks ago I'd think I was crazy. _The noise he heard walking down the streets seemed organized now—even musical. It used to be so chaotic and make him feel somewhat delirious.

Nilak walked through the crooked, wooden door that creaked much like his own apartment door. The rundown cafe was made almost entirely of wood and contained only a few customers. Nevertheless, it was a welcoming change of scenery from the hours he spent in his apartment.

Nilak waved a hand and thankfully got the barkeeps attention. The man was fairly fat with a messy stub of a beard across his face and his slightly cleaner, shaved head.  
"What can I get you?" he gruffled while approaching Nilak.

He got out of his seat and walked over to the kegerator and pointed at the last tap on the end. "Eh—all right then." The bartender studied Nilak, skeptically, as if he were mocking him. After a few seconds, he went started in his normal routine to get a large glass under the counter. Nilak gave a short tug of his head to him in commendation before sitting back down.

During the wait, he surveyed the walls. Most things were decades old; Pro-bending tournament trophies, black and white pictures, a pair of electrified kali sticks, a few gas masks, and a strange taxidermy. _What kinda thing is that?! _It was a severed head of what resembled a black panther; however the snout was shaped like a wolf's. On the canine-snout was small whiskers. The orange blend of stripes along the black coat of fur was mesmerizing.

"Catch yer eye?" The man returned placing the drink in front of his customer. "That there is the head of a tigerwolf! Well albeit it's a fake, but that's what one looks like. They're fierce things: tigerwolves. People say they are the worst of the spirits. Always ransacking small towns they come across."

Nilak took his glass to lips but was distracted when a small bell rang with the croak of the main wooden door. _You're early. _He saw Taige tentatively walk in, looking around the cafe as if it was full of people. When her wandering eyes did eventually latch onto Nilak, she went up to him. "Can I sit down?" She asked hoarsely.

'_Of course,' _Nilak gestured distantly. He heard the soft _plop _as she sat on the stool next to him. The harder he tried to focus on his beverage the less noticeable it seemed to be. The night was starting to wash in as if Taige had brought it with her from outside.

'_You know, I planned on being a bit looser before you arrived,'_ he admitted, sloshing the glass in his hand. '_How did you find me, anyway?'_

"Your neighbours told me when I was at your apartment," Taige responded.

'_Oh—all right.' _An awkward silence overpowered their conversation while Taige had gotten herself a beer. Nilak took several sips during the process. The cold and bitter taste of barley and wheat swashed inside his mouth.

"I—uh—I screwed up, didn't I?" Taige stiffly said after taking a large gulp of her own glass. Her shameful expression was a huge blow to Nilak's stomach.

'_No, I'm sorry—I overreacted. I let my own insecurities get the better of me.'_

"No—that was my fault completely! I feel guilty for ignoring you—I'm just so used to normal conversations when we went into City Hall I…I spaced. I'm an idiot," Taige spoke bashfully. It was strange hearing her talk so reserved for a change.

There was a long, stiff silence that followed as they looked at the black and white television in the center of the bar, at a loss for words.

'_I guess we're both pretty bad at this, then.' _Nilak considered, giving Taige a reassuring smile.

"Haha! I guess you're right!" she exclaimed, sounding much more like her normal self. Nilak felt the tension that had built up in the discussion alleviate drastically. Nilak's head was now buzzing and he couldn't help but feel loose as they continued to talk. It seemed Taige was also getting as steadily drunk.

'_I'd say I left a bigger impression on the council than even I wished—all things consider,'_ he teased, stretching his arms out.

Taige chortled. She hid her face on the counter in her arms. It took a few seconds before she resurface, red with laughter.

Nilak's muscles felt far more relaxed than they've been for a while. Whether it was the alcohol or because of Taige he still couldn't be sure.

"So are you going to give the council another chance?" Taige laughed. Nilak imagined if she were to ask this question she'd be a little more anxious of his response.

'_I—yeah. I'll try to be more patient and understanding with them. I just hope they haven't shut the door because of my little scene.'_ Nilak motioned, putting his beer back on the counter.

"Heh—Don't worry about it. I'd be surprised if they weren't impressed by your boldness," Taige responded, still grinning uncontrollably. "Council members tend to admire those kinds of things. Just—just don't overdo it, you know?" She wore a sheepish expression.

'_Er—Right.' _Nilak looked around the rest of the room, awkwardly. After another twenty minutes he glanced at the clock for a moment, it was nearly ten at night. _I still haven't written to Rivik this week. 'I…should get going. I need to write something tonight and I don't want to be too over the top when doing it!'_

Nilak tried to get off his seat, only to find himself swaying dangerously. He put a firm hand on Taige's shoulder for support. '_Wow I drank way too much.' _He silently cackled, now holding onto the stool.

"Here, lemme—lemme help you out." Taige slurred, putting an arm around his shoulder. They both waddled through the cafe and out the door. With the cold breaching his skin again, Nilak's head felt numb and he seemed to have little control over his muscles while he walked with Taige, exchanging each other's weight along the road. _It's a good…It's a good thing I went to this joint since it's on the same street as my building._

A small group of four people swarmed in around their slow walk. They wore very little that wasn't black and several had gas masks on.

"HEY! YOU TWO! Yeah you! Give us all the money you have on you!" Nilak was surprised how long it took him to notice the electrified gloves in each of the robber's right hands. Taige looked at Nilak, frightened. "We'll also be taking that necklace." He pointed at Taige. "And that pocket watch!" He looked at Nilak. The loose chain in his pocket was a dead giveaway. A roar from the wind followed his cold, cruel voice.

Nilak felt dizzy again, but he tried to clear his mind and focus. He surveyed the surrounding area. _There's got to be something…_

One of the hooded figures closed the already small distance and grabbed at the chain outside his pocket. He put a stubborn hand on the man's wrist. '_No, not that_—_anything but that.' _Though Taige was not looking at him. She was looking wildly around for some kind of outside help. Her eyes were wide with fear. _No don't panic. _It was miserable for Nilak to see her so distressed.

_There it is._

With a flail of his arms, the square biscuit on the street suddenly shot up about seven meters high from a raging wave of the sewage water. He waved around fluently in a circular movement in a tight rotation until it pushed all the outside thieves to the ground. The water quickly froze them to the ground. The closest of the four, however, backed up now and bent several fire blasts at Nilak. As if shutting a door, he made a wall of ice that blocked most of them with a loud crack. The last two completely shattered the wall but Nilak condensed the halves together and stopped those two right in their tracks. He pelted the two, small boulders of ice at the firebender and jumped up in the air for another stream of water. The combined force proved too much to handle and he too was washed over by the water and swiftly dealt with—confined in an ice prison.

Nilak breathed heavily for several moment, making sure everyone was completely restrained before slowly walking his way back to Taige, nauseous. She was sitting on the ground, weakly, eyes full of tears. Nilak's ragged breath caught up with him making him put his hands on his knees gasping for air.

'_Are—Are you all right, Taige?' _Nilak asked anxiously. He gave her a hand and she got back up onto her feet.

"I—I think so." Taige answered disjointedly. She seemed to be gaping at him. "You—You're a waterbender?"

'_Yes.' _He knocked, relieved.


	4. Twin Shadows

Chapter 4:

Twin Shadows

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

"I can't stay here in Kotai!" Reiatsu uttered. His body was still shaking from the incident with Avani.

"I know."

"When Zeke hears about this he won't stop till I'm dead."

"Yeah."

"You don't understand! I mean, I can't even risk seeing him to try and reason with him! I know he won't hesitate once he gets the chance!" Reia continued. He shivered despite it being midday in the middle of a desert.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Keito let out, annoyed. "I agreed with you the first time, so sit back and quit babbling like your head's about to be cut off."

"Oh." Reia cut off, perplexed. Though he could not suppress his thoughts. "So…now what?"

"Well we need to go back to Dimm Rosè Palace and take what we can," his brother stated. "Hm—Then…I suppose we need to stop at the bank and get some money. Other than that, we leave Kotai immediately—the sooner the better."

"Wait, 'we'?" Reia asked, befuddled. "Are you saying you're coming with me?"

"Of course I am! What did you think, I'd drop you off on the streets after learning you're the Avatar?! Oh come on, Reiatsu! Do you really think I'm that cold?" Keito said, seeming almost wounded by the assumption.

"I don't know it's just… we aren't exactly best buds," Reia said awkwardly.

"You're judgement of people sucks," Keito answered, flatly.

Reiatsu looked out the window for a brief moment. He was not about to try and have an argument with the person who just saved his life twenty minutes ago. "How did you know what happened in my school anyway?" he asked, skeptical.

"The school called Kuji and Kuji called me. It didn't seem like they went into details with him because I was expecting some kind of detention or something from his tone. To be honest I thought it was some sort of joke for the first ten minutes or so. I mean you…the Avatar…it's just so… ridiculous. You aren't really the Avatar, right?"

It nagged at Reia that his brother doubted he was capable of being the Avatar. It was strange considering through all this trouble and how much he loathed having the title. "Why? Am I too weak to be it?!" he said, curtly, glaring at the back of Keito's head.

"Uh—well yeah." Keito answered, completely indifferent. "You can't bend, you're soft, and you're pretty frail. Isn't the Avatar supposed to be some infamous enforcer of nature's laws or something? Hate to break it to you, Reiatsu, but you don't really fit the job application."

_Why did I ever want to be friends with this guy?_

As Keito said, they went to their home within a half an hour of weary driving.

The sight of the great spiraling staircase surrounding the glimmering chandelier greeted them.

"Home so soon? Master Keito and Reiatsu?" Kuji said curiously. Walking down the hall with a broom in one hand and a feather duster in the other.

"We won't be long. We just need to get a few things." Keito responded.

"I hope he hasn't gotten into any trouble." The butler said, glancing at Reia.

"I'm right here you know!" Reia growled.

"Nah. It's nothing like that." Keito reassured, ignoring his brother's bad temper.

Kuji nodded and went back to his excessive cleaning. The twins walked upstairs, swiftly.

"Keep it light." Keito ordered before they split apart towards their own rooms across the hallway.

Reia kept quiet and stepped inside his own room. As he looked around his messy room, racking his brain for any important things to bring with him, he felt a sudden emptiness. _I don't think weight will be a problem. Do I really have nothing special in my life that I can bring?_

_Murasaki… _He knew it couldn't happen. The pain in his head resurfaced for another brief minute.

_I need to leave her something. It's the last time I'll ever get to speak to her._ Reia grabbed a piece of paper and found a pen in one of his cabinets before sitting down and looking blankly at the blank page. His thoughts clogged up as soon as he held the pen to the paper. _What can I say? How can I possibly condense everything that happened in the past three hours in something like a letter…_

A single drop of water fell onto the paper. He sniffled and noticed he was crying. It felt like nothing else in the entire world existed. That the only thing that mattered in the universe was being separated from Murasaki.

Murasaki,

I hope I'm the first to tell you this…I am the Avatar. I was hoping I'd get to say this to you in person along with one last goodbye, but I can't. I don't want to alarm you, but I'm afraid. I feel more lost than I've ever let you in on and I know that once I finish this letter, I will be on my own. You taught me more than I could ever hope to learn by myself, though. It is for that I am eternally grateful. You taught me how to care when it seemed like no one else would. Like a beacon, you gave me direction and shined in the otherwise treacherous and dark landscape. I hope that while I am gone you will continue to shine, and that someday, I will find my way back to the beacon. Back here with you.

I love you,

~Reia

Reia finished packing a simple, small bag of bare necessities before folding the letter in two and going downstairs. He walked down the polished floorboards on the second floor. The master bedroom was on the far left of the mansion. It was very strange, being in Murasaki's room. He had rarely ever been inside it before.

There was a large, fluffy bed in the middle of the room with red covers and at least six neatly stacked pillows. The large blue carpet was exposed for almost all of the room as if no one lived here. There was a grand fireplace facing the bed and a caramel, wooden bureau against the right wall. He slipped the paper in the middle of the empty desk.

"There you are! What's taking you so long?" Keito called, impatiently, from the hallway, poking his head in the doorway.

Reia paused for several moments, looking at the piece of paper. _I wish I wrote more… _"Nothing." He started. "Let's go." He walked past his brother, feeling a sudden numbness spread across his body.

_This is the last time I will ever see the Dimm Rosè Palace. I've wanted to leave this place all my life but now…it feels all wrong._

Against Keito's wishes, Reia did extend their departure unnecessarily. He tried to take in all the familiar rooms and the usual smell of smoky wood and air fresheners combined with cleaning products.

_Qinna pushed Keito's birthday cake off this table a few years back! What was it three years ago? _He smiled faintly at the face that Zeke and Murasaki had made after they noticed. They were the last ones to notice the incident.

_And Kenji always complained about the shirshu sculpture in the dining room. He never could admit he was scared. Hah—Even when he broke out in tears during the feast of Independence Day! I wonder where that thing went anyway…_

"I thought you hated our place," Keito said, noticing Reia's pained expression once they finally exited through the large doors.

"I do," Reia said, undoubtedly. "But even so, it's the only place I've ever called home. Not that you'd understand, though." To his surprise, Keito kept silent. It was the closest thing to an agreement Reiatsu had ever received from his brother.

The trip to the bank was a lot shorter than the trip to Dimm Rosè Palace. Reia knew some of it had to be that his nerves had calmed down from the chaos of the morning. _Avani… _He thought anguishly. The event suddenly came back to him as if from a long, lost dream.

The car came to an abrupt, stop and fortunately interrupted his confined distress.

"Stay in the car. I'll be out in a minute." Keito asserted, opening his own door.

"Wait—Why do I have to wait outside?" Reia responded, frustrated.

"Oh I don't know—Cause your red eyes and white hair is more distinct than the crazy tattoos on your arms. I'm _sure_ no one will recognize you, though," Keito hissed.

Reia opened his mouth but could not muster a counter. He almost forgot about the markings because of how hectic everything has been. They stung, achingly all across his body once again after Keito reminded him about them. His face reddened foolishly as he looked away from Keito in resignation.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

He heard the door shut behind him before Keito's tall, muscular back came into view and walked down the courtyard and through the huge, double doors of what must've been the bank.

High Kotai looked very more conserved compared to the rest of the city. Most people that could live here lived very inactive lives outside of their jobs and maybe their families. There were far less businesses being held in High Kotai, but the few that did, were extremely grand and had enormous budgets put into the architecture and size of their buildings.

Reia tapped his fingers on the base of the car window's frame, occasionally following a pedestrian walking down the street. It was far less dense in this part of the city. Reia rarely ever explored much of High Kotai in general.

There was two strange figures cloaked in the same silly, green cloak that suddenly made his heart beat heavily. It was two of the Earth Sages from the school.

He ducked as low as the seat would allow, feeling some of the previous panic creep back up under his skin. _How do they know?! No—They can't know! They're just part of a search. It's just a coincidence…_

They walked along the street, surveying their surroundings and asking something to every person that they encountered. Each of the bystanders seemed to have the same confused expression and short answer. Even despite their casual behavior, Reia felt his breathing intensify. It seemed like the walls around him were closing in and compressing his entire body into a tight box. _Keito, hurry up…_

The Earth Sages came past the car on the other side of the road but seemed uninterested by it, thankfully. Once they took a turn into the alleyway ahead of Reiatsu, he let out a deep breath and planted a soothing hand on his racing heart. _They're gone…_

The door to the bank opened again and several people seeped out of the building, gradually dispersing. He noticed Keito was heading back to the car through the grass of the courtyard. He had a large bag in his hand.

_They're gone…_

* * *

"Nilak" 尼罗河

A cold breeze crept into the bright street. Nilak took another large bite of the seaweed noodles he was given. They were far less salty than he was used to at home. His head stung, heavily, with the flashy lights of the police cars and a dozen officials talking amongst themselves. He swallowed the all too familiar crunchy noodles with a long gulp of water. His mouth felt like sandpaper from the alcohol.

"You're looking better!" Anno's voice came out before he was visible across the street. "I'm so glad you and Taige are alright! When I got the call I was so nervous."

Nilak stressfully pulled back the black hair in his face. He painfully squinted up at the broad, tan man again. Despite feeling very disoriented and confused, he could not bother to ask what was going on or where his voice was.

"Here…" Anno dug deep inside his brown trenchcoat and pulled out a small notepad with a pencil in the spiral of it.

Finishing the last of the kelp noodles, Nilak took the small notebook from his hand and reluctantly scribbled in it.

[Where is Taige?]

"We took her home, she seemed a bit traumatized from the whole ordeal so we figured it'd be best for her to get some rest." Annovi sat next to Nilak on the curb. They looked at the populated street in silence for several minutes. Nilak sipped his water.

"I noticed she seemed pretty tipsy. It's not like it's any of my business, but why were you guys drinking so much together?" Anno asked, suspiciously.

[It's nothing like that… We just met each other at the bar. I was really nervous about the whole incident with the council so I decided I needed to loosen up a bit.]

"Right," he said, still unconvinced. _Could he make it more obvious?_

Nilak hated to admit he was in no position to be angry at Anno, considering what he did. [I'm sorry about earlier. That was very childish of me.]

"That's quite all right," Anno answered. "We kind of rambled on, automatically. The council has never had a mute member before, so we didn't take enough consideration for compensating for your—er—needs. Your reaction was perfectly reasonable after such foul treatment. I hope that you'll forgive us and be patient while we learn how to adjust to this foreign format of communication."

[Do you want me to be honest with you?]

He seemed relieved at the sentence. "Yes, of course!"

[Writing things down like this feels really degrading.]

"Oh…" Annovi let out awkwardly. "I'm sorry about that. Without Taige we don't really have any other way…"

[I understand. I just thought you should know for future reference. Is that what you want?]

"Yes—anything that helps us improve communication with each other!" he said, relieved. "If you don't mind me asking, why exactly is it degrading to right down your thoughts?"

Nilak thought a while on how to explain it. [Because a word on its own is flat and dull. You don't notice this much because you can speak and therefore can express your thoughts better through tone and volume. However, for me, I express my feelings through body language. Words are a very poor means of expression. Our bodies fill that hole in the language. Not lead pencils.]

The councilman studied Nilak's face for a while with a slight smirk. "You're a very interesting person, Nilak."

Nilak returned the grin, feeling a sudden rush through his body. He bowed his head slightly.

"What exactly happened here, anyway?" Anno asked, casually. "I've been at the crime scene for a little over an hour now and the only two direct witnesses were a bit too drunk to be considered reliable witnesses."

Nilak blushed before he rubbed his aching head, soothingly. He started to conduct his response. [We were just walking down the street and they surrounded us. They tried to steal anything valuable we had on ourselves. I just bent the nearby sewer water and caught them off guard. There's not much else to it.]

"I see…" Anno said. It looked like he was pondering over something.

[Is there something that I'm missing here?]

"Probably not," he concluded. "The way these guys dressed—it looked a lot more organized than the common street thugs. But I doubt Charisma is a part of this."

_That name again._

[What exactly is this "Charisma" you keep bringing up?]

"Well you see that's the thing—we don't know a whole lot about him." His tone was suddenly grim "He's some cloaked figure who's been wreaking havoc on Republic City. He's some sort of crime lord that is standing against most of the political state of the city. It's like the resistance all over again. Whoever this freak is, he isn't too happy with us it seems. He's been sabotaging speeches, dinner parties… any events hosted by a political figure. We're debating about starting a task force to pursue him, fearful he may try and singlehandedly overthrow the government."

Nilak's eyes widened with awe. Annovi nodded as if confirming Nilak's thoughts. The head councilman planted his hands on his thighs and proceeded to stand up. "Anyways, I need you to verify that we have the right guys. It shouldn't take too long."

The pair of them walked back into the crowd and went to a line of four people who were sitting next to a large police van with legs crossed and hands behind their backs. The red and blue police lights were spinning extra brightly in the midnight sky.

"Well?" All the criminals' masks were removed and the only thing Nilak saw otherwise was their outfits. They all looked different but three of them looked younger than Nilak and one was rather elderly. The old man shamefully looked at the ground while the other three looked at him fearfully. It did not sit well with Nilak.

They did not seem anything like how they were acting when trying to rob him; but there was no mistaking that they were the four. He felt like something was stuck in his throat. Slowly, Nilak managed a stiff nod.

* * *

"Avani" 阿瓦尼

Dust slowly drifted in the air above the arena. The glaring spotlights all face in the direction of the ring. It made the environment harsh for beginners, however, Avani was no rookie. She spent all her free time living and breathing in this ring.

_Thung. _The three meter high, fifteen centimeters in diameter, metal poles sank deep into the solid rock in the blink of an eye. The force puffed out a thick cloud of dust that covered the vision inside the entire arena.

Avani felt her way towards the inner circle of the arena. All vision was blocked from the foggy dirt. A soft hum came from the poles as she passed. She had done this very thing almost every day and had practically perfected her thick, sturdy form as well as her bending techniques. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the vibrations of the metal tubes.

"_Wait, you've never played Redemption before?" Avani asked, gazing at him like he was a ghost._

_Reiatsu chuckled. His red eyes studied the large stadium. "Well I'm not an earthbender so I guess I kinda missed out on it. My siblings love it, though. They never shut up about it to be honest."_

"_Hah—you gotta introduce me to them someday." Avani exclaimed. Reia smiled, though it was hollow. So stupid…I shouldn't've said that. "So—what is your element. I could've sworn you looked like an earthbender."_

"_Well, I'm actually—er—a nonbender." he answered, bashfully. He walked over to one of the copper poles. "So how exactly do you play this, anyway?"_

"_Okay, so the copper and iron poles you see in the ground are normally held above the arena until the two players are in the small, chalk boxes on either side of the circle. When they drop it blocks all vision temporarily—but nothing ever happens until the dust cloud clears anyway."_

"_Er—okay."_

"_When the poles hit the ground, it signals the start of the game." Avani continued, enthusiastically. "They are spread out around a meter and a half apart from one another on all sides and half are copper and the other half are iron. The copper is placed the furthest out; the iron ones are at the edge of the midring all the way to the core. You see the center circle over there?" She pointed at the rusty circle._

"_Well, yeah." Reia answered after following her finger._

"_That's the center ring. It's metal and has no poles within the twelve meter diameter of the circles. It's the best place to be and at the same time—the worst. You gain firm ground that makes it very difficult for your opponent to knock you off which is the whole goal of the game by the way. However you are a sitting duck in the center. No poles for artillery and barely any metal to work with on the ground. The middle ring is the safest spot to be in a normal situation. It's fifteen meters thick all around and you have the most resources to work with. The outer zone is the most risky. It's made out of sand to make sure players are punished heavily for being in it. If you are propelled into the outer layer, it's unlikely you can save yourself from falling out of the ring and well—losing. It's nine meters wide and the copper poles are weaker and are more prone to breakage than the iron ones. It's very hard to utilize this zone yourself. The only way you normally want to use it is by drilling your opponent inside."_

A large rock pelted at Avani's stomach and shot her back right into a pole, knocking her back into the game. _What are you doing? Focus, idiot. _She shoved the rock away, trying her best to ignore the extreme nauseous from the blow. When Avani got up, her head spun, painfully. She shook off the disorientation as best she could. She wiped the saliva off her mouth with the back of her hand and spat on the ground.

Xue was standing only twenty six meters away and continued to attack, without hesitation. Avani broke two of the nearby poles that creaked sharply once severed and held them against both her forearms. She smacked them together in front of her and heard the familiar screech of metal colliding with earth. Several little pellets hit her face, however they did very little except leave an echoing sting.

Once the barrage had ended, Avani separated the two poles and struck them through the surface of the hard rock. A thunderous quake bellowed from the ground and cracked upward in a straight line as if a badgermole was digging below.

Her foe shot his hands upwards, lifting himself almost nine meters above the ground on a thick pillar. The crevice crashed into the thick pillar and broke apart the outside of the support for the towering baluster. It shook violently, but in the end remained balanced.

Avani groaned. _Really? How lucky can you get?!_

Xue slammed his fists on the rock and the pillar pelted immediately back down to the level of the rest of the ring. A large, seismic wave formulated from the impact and rushed towards Avani.

_It's low enough I can do it. _She frantically thought, readying herself. She sprinted forward, prepared to meet the wave rather than evade it. The wind rushed through her face for a couple seconds before she timed her jump into the dust, flawlessly avoiding the gathered wall of rock that drove toward her.

Landing on her knees, Avani propelled her arms in an uppercut immediately. "Huph!" Xue cried out as a huge tube of rock shot straight out of the ground and knocked him high into the air. He fell out of sight after sinking behind the ring. A small crash sounded a second later.

Avani put her arms on her knees. She was dizzy, her heart was pounding in her chest and every breath hurt her longs.

"There you are! Are you seriously still practicing?" A voice echoed in the hollow stadium. Avani looked behind her shoulder to find a somewhat blurry Jakyri walking up onto the ring. "Don't you need some rest?"

"No!" she said, baffled. "The preliminary matches are only a couple weeks away! I can't lighten up now! Not to mention I still don't even have the proper equipment…"

"I like your enthusiasm—I really do, but seriously?" Jakyri persisted. "If you put too much weight into it beforehand, your body will be in far worse shape. Working more doesn't equate to doing better. You have to bal—"

"It's none of your business!" Avani snapped, irritated.

"I'm making it my business!" Jakyri retorted hotly. "You're pushing yourself way too hard. At this rate you're going to crack! Why are you doing this, anyway? Is there something wrong?"

"The only thing that's bothering me is your complete lack of respect for my own privacy!" Avani raised her voice to a yell.

Jakyri's eyes widened from her response. "This is about Reiatsu, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Avani barked, nonplussed.

"Oh—come on! Reiatsu leaves the school for whatever reason and you just happened to be more _focused_ on the tournament now? Get real, Avani."

"Shut up!" she barked. "What do you care what happened to Reia?"

"I care what it's doing to you." Jakyri shouted back. "You and Reia are a lot closer than you give credit for. I don't know what happened but at least admit it to yourself! Quit trying to back away from the problem!"

"Hey! I've never backed away from anything in my life!" Avani retaliated, offended.

"Then tell me what happened, because you're hiding from it behind training! And that's having some adverse effects on your body!" Jakyri demanded, his green eyes suddenly extremely dense.

Avani had to resist the urge to punch Jakyri's face for several moments. Somehow she found the desire fade and she felt more irritated than angry. She sighed. "Reia's the avatar."

"What?"

"Reia is the avatar." She repeated, clearly. Her hands made a fist, causing her knuckles to whiten.

"Oh." Jakyri grimaced with a flinch. He looked out into the stands, before screwing up his face in frustration.

"He betrayed me!" Avani shrieked, wrathfully. "I trusted him and he betrayed me! Curse the spirits! Why would he side with them? All they do is bring death and destruction! My mom's home was decimated by those savage beasts! What does Reia want to gain with something so evil? "  
"I told you, highborns don't care about us. They only look out for themselves." Jakyri explained, grimacing.

Avani's eyebrows tightened at his comment. "How does him being highborn have _anything _to do with this?" she snarled.

"I don't know. I was just saying that—"

"What exactly?! That you were right?!" she snarled, feeling the wave of fury return even higher than before. "Well congratulations, Jakyri. You were _right_." She shoved him to the ground with as much force as she could before storming off the arena and into the stands. _Unbelievable…_

She marched through the hallway before she heard a soft clutter of steps behind her. _Oh, for the love of—_

"WHAT?!" Avani turned around, unhinged. It wasn't Jakyri that was behind her, however, it was a small girl. She had straight, shoulder length hair, tan, bony skin, and brown eyes lurking on the verge of tears. _Real smooth, Avani. _"Uh—oh—I'm sorry." She muttered, sheepishly. "I was… expecting someone else. What's your name, kid?"

"Qi—Qinna." The girl stuttered violently. _That sounds strangely familiar._

Her stammering gave Avani an idea. "That's an awesome name—do you mind if I call you Qi?" Qinna shook her head with a timid smile. Her face seemed like it was clearing up a little bit. "So what's up?"

"Are you a redeemer?!" She blurted out, looking up at her. A light shined in her eyes that made Avani grin.

"Yup." she answered, leaning against the wall. "How'd you know?"

"Qinna! There you are! I said stay by my side!" a woman interrupted. She approached down the hallway, rushing towards Qinna as best as she could while in heels. "I'm so sorry!" She flustered, noticing Avani.

"It's no problem." Avani said, having about half her questions answered in just that second.

"Are you sure?" the woman asked nervously. She had black, curly hair almost extending to her waist and a sharp, pale face. Around her small nose was a pair of magnificent, red eyes. Avani's heart quickly sped up.

"Yeah it's fine," she said, trying to mimic her indifferent tone. "Are you by any chance Murasaki?"

"How did you know?" Murasaki asked, looking both impressed and surprised. "Are you Avani?" Qinna curtly sighed, starting to wander around the hall in boredom.

"You know me?" Avani answered, somewhat unexpected.

Reia's mother smiled, warmly. "Reia told me all about you!"

"Oh—uh—he did?" Avani suddenly felt the pain in her stomach again.

"Yeah. I was looking for you because he—well…hasn't been around lately and I was hoping you might know where he went." She suddenly noticed that Murasaki's eyes were red and somewhat puffy. _So he ran away, then?_

"Er—ever since the scuffle in the school, I haven't. Sorry." The staff had spent several days talking to the whole school lecturing them about how 'absolutely unacceptable their behavior was'. _It's gotten annoying, really._

It was clear Murasaki was put down by the news but she was trying way too hard not to come off as rude. "That's all right. Thank you, anyways. Come on, Qinna." Avani was taken aback by Murasaki's genuine courtesy. She half expected her to scream at her or demand some bit of information. _She didn't even accuse me of lying… _She felt a stab of pity as she looked at Murasaki walk away with her daughter.

"Hey—uh—wait." Avani called out. "For what it's worth, I did catch a glimpse of him riding off with his brother in the front of the school."

Murasaki exhaled, relieved. "Thank you!" she praised. "At least I know he's safe!" She looked at her with a look that punctured Avani's heart: The hopeful eyes of a distraught mother.

Feeling strangely exhausted, Avani went home early, despite not doing her entire workout routine. She compensated her laziness by jogging on the way back home. The sun was still up for at least another hour judging by the beautiful blend of red and yellow just above the horizon. Though the wind for today seemed to be dead, she felt the force of it in her face from her jogging.

When Avani finally arrived back at the Second District, her body jittered impatiently. _I just want to be home, already. _Though it seemed to take longer to get to the 74th building in the pocket of houses.

At her door, however, she saw several packages stacked against the wall. _Must be for Dad…_ She one by one carried them inside. They were a lot heavier than she expected. Based on the shuffling of the boxes it sounded like some metal was inside. _I hope they didn't put it at the wrong door. _Slightly confused, she looked at the labels. "Avani Yao?" She read aloud. "I didn't order anything."

Avani opened one of the six boxes and dug under the foam noodles to find a shiny, weighted knee guard. It was made of stainless steel and had a second, layer painted black in the pattern. _This is really expensive! _She gasped, noticing the quality. It was obvious that this was no mistake, however.

After piecing together the thigh pads with the knee guard, she placed the left leg of the uniform against the wall and cut open the biggest of the boxes. It was a large chestplate with the same pattern. Judging by the size it looked like a perfect fit. It was then that Avani noticed a small, folded note in the ribcage.

Avani,

I know you didn't want me to go all out for your upcoming birthday, but the opportunity was just too perfect, since you needed some equipment. I asked Jakyri for your sizes, so if anything doesn't fit blame him! But seriously, let me know if anything's wrong, I'll return it. I hope you like it! Looking forward to seeing you kick some serious butt in the tourney.

~Reia

Tears swelled in Avani's eyes as she stared at the name for several moments. It was too much for her; she sank her head onto the metal chestplate, clinging heavily to it, and started to cry.


	5. Dream Drop Distance

Chapter 5:

Dream Drop Distance

"Nilak" 尼罗河

The door creaked open across the long hall of the council room. For a moment all of the council's eyes shifted to the doorway, cutting their conversation mid sentence. Taige walked through the doors and walked along the middle aisle of the room. By the time she was seen closing the door the rest of the council members had continued their own private discussions. Though Nilak continued to stare at her as she went to the table.

"It's good to see you, Taige!" Annovi exclaimed, bringing a silence to the hall. "I was nervous when I got to the crime scene and heard you already left… How are you feeling?"

"Good, I—I'm good," Taige said. Her voice seemed unnaturally exhausted. It gave off a hoarse, hushed tone which made Nilak feel uneasy. Now that she sat down in her seat next to him, Nilak saw she was noticeably paler. Her eyes were red and puffy as well.

"You can take some time if you want, you know?" Anno said. He too appeared to notice the queer state of Taige.

Nilak knocked on the table softly. Taige looked at him immediately. '_He's right, You look a little… stretched thin. I'll be all right on my own if you need a break.'_

"But what about you?" she asked, doubtful. "How are you going do anything in the meeting, then?"

Nilak slipped out a small notepad from his tan trousers and raised it to eye level.

"I thought you hated writing, though…"

'_I do… I was talking with Annovi before and he made a fair point to have something on me incase I do need it.' _He tried not to make it appear as much of a deal as it truly was. It took a lot of convincing from Anno to swallow his pride and even have just a notepad and a pencil on his person wherever he went. Being asked to use it however…

"Er—all right. Thanks." Taige smiled, faintly before standing up and putting away some books in a long bag she slung over her shoulder. It slouched against her hip once she stood up and walked back out through the double doors.

"So are we ready to start, then?" the head councilman asked moments after the door sank back into the doorway.

A few people nodded, silently as Nilak put the notepad on the table, observing the rest of the council members.

Karcsi looked around the table as he shuffled his papers in a neat pile. Like the last time, he started off the discussion. "I assume we all know the most pressing issue this week. I say it's best that we get it out of the way. Are we committing to a task force for Charisma or not?"

"We've been over this time and time again;" Cecilia argued. "a task force is only useful when we have information: leads, suspects, witnesses. What would organizing a task force accomplish while we still know little to nothing of this Charisma? Twiddling several officers' thumbs for an entire duration of a day's work? No, the economy is already suffering enough during these times of war; we can't afford to burn more tax dollars on useless pursuits."

"So what are we supposed to do, then? Accept these assaults and threats on politicians? Let him continue to break the laws tirelessly?" Anno said desperately. "I think all of us can agree that we need to take action for this. Whatever action that may be…"

"Head Councilman, you want us to take useless actions so we can say we are doing something for the press. It doesn't—in anyway—get us closer to detaining Charisma." Cecilia countered with a strained expression. The crevice of a long, tilted scar was visible now that the sun rose above the east mountains of towering skyscrapers. It ran as high up as her forehead and went through the greater part of her cheek. She moved her silky, straight, black hair with a turn of her head and it blocked most of the scar. "If it didn't hurt us to put on this show then by all means I would not mind. However, that is not the case. We need more collective data on why this man is doing it. It all seems random and sporadic at the moment. We don't know what kind of goal he's set out to achieve."

"Well, perhaps he is not." Anno considered. "It wouldn't be the first time a criminal caused mischief for the sake of it."

"It would be a first for these kinds of crimes," Cecilia said. "Attacking the government, interfering with political gatherings—this is isn't the works of a senseless assailant. It is clear that he does want some form of national change, whatever it may be."

There was a silent pause as the pair of them sat in heavy thought. Annovi cupped his chin in his hand. "What of the reports Karcsi? Does he always work alone? Surely with all the distress he's caused he must have some forms of companionship?"

Karcsi scanned through the papers of the first couple open folders in his long, bony hands. "Nothing on the records. Anyway, I do believe we've deviated long enough. Although this may be productive in its own rights, we need to answer the one question today; are we creating a task force or not?" He emitted with his smooth tone, eying everyone with his cold, black eyes.

"Very well. Let's vote on it, then. Take your time if you are unsure." Anno stated, drawing a piece of paper and a pencil from his stuffed, brown bag under the table.

"Must we waste time by writing down our votes?" Cecilia interjected with the ghost of a scowl on her face.

Anno, however, was not so subtle. He glared at her with brown, solid eyes that unsettled even Nilak. He opened his mouth widely as if to tell her off but was cut off by Karcsi's blunt, dead voice.

"Cecilia." He shifted his dense, chilling eyes to Nilak for a split second before returning them back to the councilwoman. Cecilia faltered and sunk lower into her seat with her face reddening in embarrassment.

The dead silence during the voting was nerve-racking. Nilak could not write the answer he had in mind days before this discussion even took place. _Am I being too light with this? This is a council decision that affects the state of Republic City ever so slightly and I am making a decision like a two year old. It's too obvious for me. _He felt a pain in his chest as he scribbled his simpleminded answer and folded the paper to cover it before casting a wandering eye at the many brown benches. They glowered sharply back at him with the force of ten thousand people glaring angrily at his back. _How unprofessional! Is this the kind of person running our government? _He heard an echoing cry in his head. _How did Dad make decisions? Did he always get this stressed about it afterwards?_

At the thought of Onaruk, he remembered the last few lines of an old letter he once read countless times when he was twelve.

…_The room serves a dual_-_purpose; it is used as a courtroom as well. It's kind of funny that they call it a council room now that I think about it—it is far more frequently used as a courtroom than a council room. It's quite strange how things grow to become how they are, don't you think, Nilak? Anyway I hope you and Rivik are doing well. Write back when you have the time and be easy on your mom!_

_ ~Love, Onaruk_

"Well…" Anno suddenly, spoke, bringing Nilak back to his senses. "Two for and two against a task force…" He looked put out before he messed his face up in frustration.

"Ugh—this is getting us nowhere…" Cecilia replied, equally irritable.

Karcsi stood up and started to pace near the far wall of the council room in sullen silence.

_Why not just keep it on standby? _Nilak jerked his body from its slouched position and started scribbling it down on the notepad. [How about a compromise? We keep it off until we feel there is enough evidence to follow up on an ongoing investigation.]

He flicked the glass in front of him to resonate a low, hollow ring. They all glanced at him for a moment before he slid the notepad down to Anno. He pressed it in between the table and his hand to stop its motion before turning it to the right side and reading it.

"Hm…" For a moment, Anno was lost in thought. "Perhaps…" He slid the notepad back towards Nilak before clamping his hands together in an arch under his chin.  
"Anno?" Karcsi said with his silky smooth voice. He had stopped his pacing and looked at the head councilman with interest. Nilak felt like those black, dormant eyes could consume his strength if he stared into them long enough. He shivered slightly, feeling each strand of black hair on his arms rise like a porcupine.

"Nilak suggests a compromise," Anno said, finishing his silent thinking. "We withhold any rash task force and wait until we have accumulated enough information to pursue him. Until then, we keep the investigation going, solely. If he continues to do this he'll slip up somewhere and we'll catch it!"

A thin smile carved into Karcsi's lips before he looked away and stared out the window behind him, as stiff as a ghost. Cecilia wore an unsatisfied expression and looked as if she wished to object to the offer, but she just leaned to her right in search of something in her bag. Nilak could tell it was more of a reticent way to drop the argument than to actually grab something because of how long she dug in the limited contents without even taking something out, afterwards.

Anno surveyed the area for several seconds before placing his hands in his laps. "Very well, it's decided then." Karcsi took the silence to be consent, as reluctant as it may be. He slowly crept back into the empty chair on the end before writing something down for a trivial period. It was the rustle of many cluttered papers in his white, skeletal hands that marked the end of most of the council's lethargic behavior.

"I have bad news. Beijia's situation is getting worse." Karcsi explained, indifferently. "They are only angry with us at the present time, but I fear it will soon spread into fear and paranoia. We must find a way to appease them. Their withdrawal from the war would be catastrophic. We cannot hope to beat Adryan alone; even with the huge advantage we've acquired, we would lose within the following year."

Nilak gaped at Karcsi and wildly looked at the others who only reacted with solemn expressions. _We're at odds with Beijia? I haven't heard anything of this from the news or in public… Are we hiding it from everyone?!_

"Even with all the support the Northern Water Tribe has provided to take control of the sea?" Anno asked, aghast. "Surely Adryan can't be _that_ powerful."

"You underestimate them. Give a single inch of space for them to breathe and they will have sufficient breath to blow our walls down." Karcsi's eyes suddenly surfaced, as dense as lead. "You may not have heard the tales of their stagnant position in the civil war of the Earthen Empire fifty years ago. They as good as lost that war until Beijia slipped up while in their commanding position. That mistake won Adryan their independence and several hundred thousand dead Beijian soldiers. Need I remind you the how much more powerful Beijia's military is compared to URN's?"

"I'm perfectly aware of that, thank you." Anno grimaced, failing under the black pits of Karcsi's eyes.  
"Regardless, we must not take any chances. We need Beijia's support to put an end to this conflict with Adryan. We are growing further and further apart from each other and this fighting will be Adryan's optimal chance for retaliation." Karcsi insisted. "The U.R.N. needs to fix our diplomacy with Beijia before things get out of hand."  
"What do you want _us_ to do about it?" Cecilia interrupted, giving a suspicious eye towards Karcsi. "This is a matter for the U.R.N. as a whole to decide. We are merely the council for Republic City. It does not concern us."

"We are the capital of this great land," Anno argued firmly. "If any one city is responsible for the international affairs of the U.R.N. it is Republic City."

"This is—" Karcsi said abruptly as Cecilia was about to retort, "this is merely to inform everyone about the problem so we can contribute ideas as to fixing it. I don't believe the Supreme People's Council will do nothing, but I am weary they will not prioritize the issue. I'm currently trying to talk to the president about the matter; obviously that will take some time, though. Don't expect us to be entirely uninvolved with the issue—if I can convince him, we'll have to make an extraordinary decision that may mean the difference. I ask that you think on the issue so we are ready for such a responsibility.

"Anyway, I digress…" Karcsi's lips curled severely. "There is still one more matter on the agenda to attend to today. There has been a lot of claims lately of…of the return of the Avatar."

Unlike the last, this bit of news seemed to catch every one of the council members off guard. They all gaped at Karcsi with near-identical faces. "  
"Is it—is it true?" Cecilia baffled, her eyes luminous with the mention of the word "Avatar". _Why is she so interested about the Avatar? _Nilak wondered, noticing her change of mood. _Every other topic that's been discussed she's responded with cynical skepticism._

"I can't be sure as of yet," Karcsi admitted. "I've sent what resources I could around United Republic of Nations to establish a search party just in case; however, even if a new avatar is here it is highly unlikely I will find them. They could be anywhere in the Earthen Empire."

"These claims aren't what made you start a search." Anno deduced, noticing Karcsi's uncertainty. "You wouldn't just foolishly take the word of everyday citizens."

"Most of all the people claimed that Avatar Aang's statue lit up midday two days ago. Despite the overwhelmingly matching stories, I still found it absurd nonsense or some sort of prank until Ryung came in yesterday morning."

"You spoke with Ryung?" Anno asked, surprised.

Karcsi nodded.

"What did he say?"

"He said he witnessed it himself. His distraught expression was all I needed to see to know he was telling the truth. Needless to say I was abashed and asked him what it meant. He believes it meant exactly what everyone said: the Avatar has returned to this world."

Cecilia looked at him with nothing short of awe. "We—are we going to do anything with this information?"  
"Like I said earlier, it is unlikely we would ever find him. He is merely an infant after all—only a couple days old. We should not worry about the Avatar. The war will long pass before he is a capable enough individual to become relevant."

Cecilia stood up, suddenly, and walked out of the council room. Despite her bizarre behavior, the council remained quiet, too dazed by their own thoughts on the subject to notice.

Nilak wiped the sweat from his face that collected during the meeting. _An Avatar, huh? Doesn't Republic City have enough on its plate as it is?_

* * *

"Ryung Jae" ईबहलु ऱोा

_I_ _can't believe he didn't tell me!_

Ryung Jae stormed through the usual streets in Republic City. He was so furious he paid little mind to everything around him. He quickly entered the great, white building of City Hall before heading upstairs.

"Excuse me! Sir! You need to stay in the waiting area! Hey!" She sprang up out of her seat, with hair long and curly. Ryung paid no mind to her and continued on his way, adamantly. The small, stout woman continued to follow him but her path was being blocked a lot more by the people in the hallway.

Ryung tugged at the door for a second but found that it was locked. _Enough of this! _He broke down the door with a swift but firm motion of his hands.

"Ry—Ryung!" Zander sputtered, with a jolt. The air Ryung had bent pushed into the room and blew several stacks of papers into the air. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Oh I think you know very well what this is about." He hissed, coldly.

"Zander!" The receptionist called out from a distance, rushing as fast as her squat feet would carry her. "I'm so sorry about this! He just stormed by me! I tried to stop him but I couldn't—"

Zander put a hand up to silence her. "It's all right, Kaya," he said. "You may go—he's a friend." From the look Kaya gave she seemed very doubtful of that. Nevertheless, she bowed to Zander, glaring at Ryung mid bow, before heading back downstairs.

"Did you ever plan on telling me that Rohan was convicted?! Why is it that I learn this news for myself by accident?!" Ryung Jae exclaimed with outrage.

"Of course I did!" Zander shot back, offended. "I've been too busy trying to keep everything under control to visit personally and I wouldn't dream of giving you such terrible news any other way! You think I intentionally withheld the news from you? Come now Ryung!"

"You couldn't pick up the phone?! I thought we agreed that you'd keep me informed with the trial. The outcome isn't by, any means, an exception." Ryung stated, curtly.

"I'm sorry, Ryung. It felt wrong to do that… I guess I dreaded your reaction so much that I kept pushing it back. Rohan's a good man—he doesn't deserve to be convicted of the murder."

"Then free him!" Ryung urged, desperately. "You're the second most powerful person in Republic City! Surely there's something you can do…"

Zander dropped his head to his desk, sheepishly. "I'm sorry." He repeated, softly. "I testified for him in the court, but I couldn't lie, I only saw him several hours before the crime took place. The jury made their decision. I was shocked at how one sided it was. I thought Rohan's lawyer put up a really good defense."

"No…" Ryung Jae said, faintly. "NO!" He slammed his fists on the desk, causing the books and pens to shoot off the desk. His vision was distorted from the tears that swam in his eyes.

"They—they're doing this be-because he's an—an airbender!" He sobbed. "They don't care whether he's innocent or not—they just hate the spirits so much they put those who believe differently behind bars! How is that justice?"

Zander left his seat and put his hand soothingly on Ryung's trembling shoulder. The shining sun that crept over Ryung's back seemed to be mocking his suffering.

After several rigid breaths, he finally got a hold of himself and looked up at Chief Bingwen again. His long wrinkled face looked back at him with a weary sadness. Ryung felt a lurch in his stomach for being so aggressive to him.

"I—ahem—I want to visit him," he suddenly said, still feeling like a mess.

"Ryung…" Zander lightly opposed.

"I need to talk to him… Please, Zander." Ryung pleaded. "He's the only family I have left."

Zander studied him for a few minutes before he sighed. "Oh, all right." He let out, reluctantly. "Just—just promise me you won't try anything stupid."

"I promise." Ryung exhaled, grateful.

He followed him down the hallway and into an empty elevator that closed with a _ding. _Ryung spread his face in comfort on the wait. _I wonder how he's changed._

It felt somewhat strange knowing that he was about to see his uncle again for the first time in almost two years. They used to be so close, too. Outside of Jinora, Ryung had only saw his Aunt Ikki twice before when he was still a child along. Before his mother passed away, Rohan lived with the two of them on Air Temple Island. _I wonder if I would've ever met him if he didn't.  
_When the door opened to greet them into a far more occupied floor of City Hall, Zander went to a solid metal door on the base floor. He fiddled in his black, leather coat pockets until he retrieved a large amount of keys. Ryung suddenly felt confused.

"Wait, Uncle Rohan's here?" he asked, puzzled.

"Yeah," Zander said, still distracted with his many assortment of keys. "Ah! Here's the little devil!" He clenched in his two fingers a small, silver key that twinkled with the lights in the building. He stuck it in the small keyhole and gave a few tugs before the door made a loud _click_. "The trial's still not over, the jury still needs to decide on a punishment."

Ryung ducked his head going through the small doorway. The low chatter in City Hall deadened instantly after Zander shut the door behind him. What greeted the two of them ahead was a long, crooked stairway that dug underground. Aside from the slow drop of what sounded like a leaking pipe, silence surfaced. Ryung Jae felt a sudden solemn seriousness overtake his dim joy at seeing Uncle Rohan again after so long.

Their footsteps echoed down the deep and seemingly endless hall. A chilly breeze took Ryung by surprise and forced a violent shiver. By the time they had hit a bottom floor, he could see his own timid breath.

They walked on a steel grating fence that showed a gap of open space in the holes under him. It was a deep enough trench that Ryung could not see the bottom of the large pit. It was likely the dim, flickering light bulbs were the most responsible for this, however. People called it the Free Runner's Pit. If a prisoner tried to escape it would be used as trap by pressing a button above. The metal fences would retract into the earth and force the prisoner to fall into the pit before the button would it would slide back into place after ten seconds. The fool would be locked in like a dog until the guards recovered from their mistake and were ready to put him back in his cell. It was said that Republic City used to utilize the pit for a reserved cell for some of the worst criminals. They would stay in the dark trench throughout the entire downtime of their trial.

A guard stood in the way of the barred fence and looked like he only noticed Ryung and Zander once they stopped a meter in front of him. The guard gave a Ryung a skeptical look. The cold, grey eyes made Ryung's body heat up. However he managed to condense his rage to a silent glare.

"Is there a problem?" Zander demanded.

"No, sir," the guard replied, stiff as a board. He unlocked the door and stood off to the side, avoiding any more eye contact. It gave a shrill creak from the hinges before a loud, high pitched crash from the metal hitting against the wall of fence sounded.

"He's on the left." Zander muttered, leaning against outside of the cage full of fenced cells.

"Okay." Ryung rigidly went along the dark, narrow fencing, looking intensely at each cell that he passed on the left. His heart beat with tremendous force inside his body. He could feel cold sweat running down his forehead.

"Ryung?" A hoarse voice came from ahead. A figure was lying against the cement wall in the back of his cell. He made a groan as he stood up from his criss-crossed position. "It's been a long time."

Rohan looked like a total mess. He had a bush of white, unkempt hair that freely covered his face. His face was also extremely oily and had a smudge of dirt on the side of his neck.

"Hi, Uncle." Ryung tried his best to return the smile his uncle gave him. It stretched out a large scar on Rohan's face that he once said he got during his time in the military.

"It's been too long…too long…" Rohan said. "How are Yuna and the kids?"

"They're—they're good. We're doing well." Ryung shifted his gaze away for a moment.

"That's great to here." Rohan's yellow eyes twinkled. "I'm so glad you could visit me! I guess you know the outcome of the trial, then?"

"Yeah, I—I'm sorry." Ryung spoke with fragmented thoughts.

"Why are you apologizing?" his uncle wondered, laughing aloud. "You aren't responsible for any of this!"

Ryung waited for his chuckle to die down before he whispered. "I'm going to get you out of here somehow. Just hold on for a little longer."

"No," Rohan firmly muttered. His voice deadened quicker than Ryung would've believed. "You have a family to look after—a life to keep at."

"Uncle Rohan!" Ryung hissed in protest. "You're innocent! Why should you take the fall for some lowlife who murdered the leader of this spirit protest group?! You don't deserve this! I can get you out and—"

"And do what exactly?" Rohan snapped with a hushed voice. "Escaping doesn't make me any more innocent—quite the contrary! What does it matter what I've been falsely accused of if I run like a guilty man would?"

Ryung shifted his eyes to the floor, at a loss of words. "I just assumed you'd want to be free."

"You have a very simple definition of free, Ryung. Free isn't hiding behind a mask for the rest of my life, hoping nobody will ever recognize me again; free isn't running from society, constantly looking over my shoulder in fear of encountering the police—or worse—someone _else_…"

It seemed like a lifetime of silence followed. The only thing that could be heard was the occasional squeak of a rat and a tiny tap on the steel from its feet. Ryung felt so out of place now. He didn't even consider that his uncle would refuse the offer to escape.

He finally spoke. "Very well. I'm afraid I probably should get going."

"So soon?" Rohan looked at him with slight dismay. "Ryung I didn't mean to hurt you. Things will just be…_better _for all of us if I remain put."

"I understand." Ryung reassured his uncle. "It's not that—I promised Yuna to be quick with my business today." This was a partial lie. He made no such promises to Yuna, however he needed to leave. The terrible smell of sewage was starting to really cloud his head and caused it to spin a bit too violently to ignore any longer.

"Ryung!" Yuna's voice called once he closed the door of City Hall. Despite it being a grey, cloudy day, Ryung's eyes were still adjusted to the darkness in the underground prison. He tried to walk to the source of the voice, with his eyes still shut from the rapid change of sunlight.

"Yu—Yuna?" He gasped, still squinting narrowly. The silky black hair that he caught in his very limited vision left no room for doubt. "What are you doing here?"

"Chen told me about Rohan. I wanted to make sure you're all right," Yuna said. "I got scared you might've done something really stupid and—uh—are you all right?" she asked, suddenly startled noticing her husband's face.

Ryung took several moments to compose himself before he could look without any trouble again. "Yeah—I'm fine. It was a bit dark inside is all."

"Why didn't you tell me about your Uncle?!" Yuna asked, concerned.

"I just found out about it and, to put it lightly, I wasn't happy." Ryung explained. "I didn't want to take out my anger out on you so I decided to wait until I calmed down before telling you."

Despite her not saying anything her glamorous, ruby-red eyes still casted a wounded look. "_You have a family to look after—a life to keep at."_ Rohan's voice echoed in his head. _What have I done? If I went through with breaking Rohan out what would that've meant for my family?_ Ryung didn't even consider it until he had looked at Yuna's beautiful, pale face just now.

A tingling sensation warmed his heart as he looked down at his wife, shameful. "I'm so sorry." He wrapped Yuna in a tight embrace. His vision was blurry from his watery eyes but it didn't matter. The only thing that matter to Ryung was the soothing breathing and distant heartbeat that he felt close to his body.

"Ryung!" Yuna cried out, bewildered.

"I did act stupidly!" Ryung admitted, tightening his grip on her smooth back. "I'm so sorry, Yuna!"

"Ryung…" Yuna mumbled, soothingly rubbing his back with her hand.

At that moment, nothing else mattered. Not Rohan's dilemma or Zander's constant disputes. It felt like he was in a utopia, where troubles were so far out of touch they did not appear whatsoever. "I love you." He whispered above Yuna's shoulder.

"I love you, too." His mouth gave a trembling smile.

* * *

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

Reiatsu felt the soft wind blow across his face as he stared into the midnight sky. It was filled with an endless darkness that was only broken apart from the hundreds of thousands of twinkling stars that were scowered anywhere the eye could see. Goosebumps grew all across his bare arms as he shivered from another howl of the wind. Every breath he took refreshed the sweet scent of plants and trees. He exhaled again in calm relief as it transformed into a faint vapor above his head and swiftly raised high into the sky before quickly fading in the air.

_It's beautiful tonight. _Reia always found an indescribable sense of wonder at gazing at the stars. Something about it seemed surreal—the fact no man created this one truly graceful aspect of earth added a uniqueness in the way the scene was pretty. It was ultimately the only creation from nature that Reia could always see living in the cramped city of Kotai.

He closed his eyes for an extended period of time, they felt heavy from all that had happened today. Despite nearly dying twice, the whole day felt somewhat distant now—dreamlike even. After everything, it was the first time he had been able to relax and thoughtlessly enjoy something he always used to have the leisure to admire. It gave him a great comfort to still be able to do that—no matter where he goes.

"_Mom? Why are all the stars so bright in the sky?" Reia asked, curiously gazing at the stars while his mother was placing a kettle on the gas burner in the kitchen. Murasaki finished what she was doing before walking out onto the large porch and sitting down to look for herself. "Are they really as bright as they look? Or is the sky just really dark in comparison?"_

"_Hm, I've never thought of it that way, Reia. I suppose it's a bit of both." she answered after some thought, smiling at her son. She put an arm around Reia's neck and gently stroked his hair._

_They silently watched the sky calmly shift away from Dimm Rosè Palace for a while. Reia continued to think hard about it as if it was a puzzle put under his nose to solve. Though the high pitched whistling that resonated from the kitchen interrupted his ideas._

"_Let's get inside and have some tea before bed. It's cold out here; and you have school in the morning," she said, sitting back up, abruptly and walking into the kitchen to turn off the stove._

_Reia continued to stare at the stars, mystified by their very existent. They stared back at him with the same perplexed expression._

_He could feel a much stronger breeze now as he looked into black pits of nothingness. The wind gave him the impression he was moving, somehow. There was a hushed sob that escaped from a girl near his left ear. His head was supported on a shoulder and he could feel hands on his bare back. Everything felt distorted, however. Reia's senses were as weak as his muscles for whatever reason. It made it increasingly difficult to tell where he was or with whom._

_When Reia finally mustered the strength to split his eyes open, he met a sudden surge of excruciating pain in the core of his back. The only response he could conduct, however, was a pitiful, feeble moan._

_A sudden gasp came from the voice combined with backwards movement of Reia's limp body. He was met face to face with the girl that held him in her arms. He weakly stared into the appeased, crystal-blue eyes of a young water tribe girl. She looked about twelve if she didn't have a shadow of weariness behind her amazement. Her black, shoulder length hair blew as elegantly as the wind that carried it. Reia felt a warmth enter his body at seeing her for some reason. He gave her a faint, reassuring smile._

_The hair blocked the rest of his vision as she pulled him into a tight embrace. It didn't matter, though. No visible thing could compare to the affection he felt with her arms wrapped around him, hearing the steady and relieved breathing just behind his ear._

"_Those who try may not fail, but those who fail will not try."_

Reistu's eyes opened at once. He shot up and wildly looked to the side of his small sleeping bag; there was nothing but the ground there. He then stuck his hand under his shirt and felt around the center of his back to only find his smooth skin and straight, stiff spine covered in a thin layer of cold sweat. Up till now, his nerves had completely distracted him from noticing the state of his body. The rapid pounding of his heart and heavy, rough breaths that escaped his mouth combined in making his whole body tremble, uncontrollably.

"Gah!" He let out in frustration, screwing his hair up. _I can't take this! It's been only a day as this "avatar" and I've been through more than my whole life! I feel like I'm going mad! _He looked up at the stars imploringly. After several moments of no change it turned into a glare in his anger and impatience. "What do you want from me?!" Reia shouted, scornfully. "You took away my home, my mother….….Avani…"

He sank down to his knees before completely flopping back onto the cushioned sleeping bag, morose. _And this is just the beginning… _Tears swelled into his and he began to sniffle, uncontrollably. He cupped his knees in his arms and dully looked at the surrounding forest in a fetal position. _Maybe Avani was right—maybe the spirits are just sadistic demons._

A firm hand planted on his upper arm. He made a negligible spasm at the sudden, unexpected sensation. Keito must've woken up from his yelling. For some reason, Reia had completely forgotten about his brother when he woke.

"We're going to get through this, Reia." Keito spoke to his back, resolute. "Everything's gonna be all right. I promise."

Reia remained still, however. He watched as a tear slowly left the tip of his nose and fell out of sight.

It took quite a while for Reiatsu's resentful breakdown to lapse, however Keito did not pry him. Dawn was barely on the horizon when Reia had waken, so there was little need to rush. He went to cleaning up and packing all the supplies they had taken out of the car for the previous night.

_I could've sworn that wasn't a dream._ Reiatsu thought, feeling a lot calmer from the passage of time. He remembered vividly _feeling_ everything in the instance. It was unlike any dream he ever experienced before. _That was the dream I kept forgetting. _It was too familiar for there to be any other explanation. _Who—who was that girl? _He wondered, reviewing the entire scene in his head as best as he could replicate.

"Reiatsu? You almost ready? We should get moving." Keito called out from the door of the car just on the edge of the road.  
"Yeah." Reia called back, finally getting up and packing his own sleeping bag. He stopped as he heard a distant crunch of leaves behind him. _Why is Keito over there? He was just beside the car two seconds ago… _The car was parked in the opposite direction.

"Keito?" he said, looking at the direction of the sound. It wasn't long before the bushes he stared at rustled with a low, menacing growl.

Reiatsu felt his breath get caught in his throat as the beast steadily walked through the plants and stared immediately at him. _What on earth is that?! _Reia had originally thought it was a wolf from the look of it but it was clear that was inaccurate. The strange animal had a black, slick coat of fur with orange stripes from the base of its snout, to the abrupt point of his bushy tail. As it continued on forward, the stripes moved in a way that felt hypnotizing to Reia. The brown, glossy eyes that sank into Reia's skin were casting a look of intimidation and skepticism. Reia slowly backed away from it, trying to avoid it at all costs but something about him was luring the panther/wolf thing towards him.

_If I run he will catch up and pounce on me in half a second._ Though it was clear backing away was not working. Despite how little the creature seemed to be moving its four legs, it was still gaining on Reia.

It was only three meters away when Reia noticed just how large it was. The hybrid was roughly two to three meters long and one to one and a half meters high. It's back was as high as Reia's stomach—which was currently compressed in Reia's silent terror. It stretched out its jaw while looking upward as if in a yawn. The long, sharp fangs that it bore almost cause Reia to faint, he was so light-headed.

"REIA?!" A voice bellowed far behind the creature. It turned its head for a fraction of a second at the sudden noise before fixing its attention back on its prey. Those brilliant eyes narrowed, daring Reia to call out for help.

A dim, red glow shifted from its brown eyes. Reia panicked; his body had repulsed backwards, getting his ankle caught on a tree root in the ground. He collapsed, flat on his back, not thinking properly. His fear froze him solid to the ground instead of recoiling and leaving the blasted creature.

In a second, the nimble wolf-like animal had pounced right on top of Reia with shocking dexterity and locked him down its body. To Reia's surprise, it did not draw it's claws or else it's likely he would've been toast.

The dreadful face that now was less than a meter away glowered at him with all the skin on its snout tightened back. Reiatsu resorted to mercy, covering his face with his hands, feeling every inch of his body erupt in terror. It frightened him even more to see that his red tattoos were glowing as if in response to the animal's.

His own glistening red eyes met with the monster's gruesome, harrowing red eyes. It seemed like time had drastically slowed around him until, eventually, it came to a complete stop. Then all the many shades of green, the brown, rich dirt, and the clear, blue sky started to lose its color. Once it dimmed completely to grey, the very details of the plants, the trees, and the sky smeared away. In a way, the process reminded Reia of a polaroid picture, only in reverse.  
The only thing he had wished to fade away was the giant, wolf that was the cause of all this horror. However it was the only thing that did not lose color or figure in Reia's sight. In fact, it had seemed like it was even _clearer_ than before. The eyes had settled down from the shining red light and back to its natural, brown eyes. _It's not a wolf, it's a tigerwolf._

Reia did not understand how he figured this out or how he was so certain of this. He hadn't even heard of a tigerwolf until it entered his mind. With learning this, he somehow felt tranquil and relaxed the stiff muscles that he subconsciously was tensing. It was then, now that Reia was calm, that the tigerwolf had treaded away from him and sat patiently on his four legs, never taking her eyes off of Reia.

"You're—you're name is Irya." It wasn't really a question as much of a statement. She simply continued to study him with a mellow interest. "You're the one telling me these things, aren't you?" It felt crazy to admit, but not as crazy as someone who magically learned about tigerwolves just by coming across one. Irya tilted her head, inquisitively; still not taking her eyes away from him, even to blink.

"Why are you—" Reia was cut off by what felt like being kicked in the stomach.

He resurfaced, feeling the wind knocked out of him as he rolled to the side of the long grass, grimacing in pain. _What?_ He looked as far up as his head would go for a moment, perplexed.

He was back in the forest that they had camped in—back in the physical world. Irya was up against a nearby trunk of a tree, six meters away, whimpering softly as she also attempted to recuperate. Reia noticed that Keito was on the far right side. He had his hands raised to his pale, anxious face, ready to usher another blow.

"No…. Ke-Keito! DON'T!" Reia hollered, still recovering from the severed bond. The stress he put on his throat made it numb in pain, but he didn't care. Keito was about to make a terrible mistake. Reia tried to get up, but his knees were still convalescing from the mixed pain of Irya's and Reia's.

Irya was back on her feet, long before Reia had realized, and snarled, venomously as she paced around his brother. _I'm no longer in control. _Reiatsu's eyes widened with fear.

The tigerwolf suddenly sprinted with baffling speed at her target. Keito tightened his fists, ready to meet her. "STOP!" Reia bellowed, in a crouched position, with one hand covering his aching stomach and the other outstretched towards the pair of them. Irya had left her feet for a bite, however, Keito had managed to get out of the way just in time. The sleeve of his short ripped with a crisp and deformed sound of tearing.

Irya had continued in the air for a meter past Keito from the sheer force of her potent legs. After clawing deep into the ground to stop her motion, she fixed her eyes back on Keito, lowering her back for another strike.

"STOP!" Reia bawled again, desperately. "Irya, please…" The tigerwolf maintained her prowling as she scowled at Keito. However, she did not leap again; it gave the impression that she was hesitating. After what seemed like an hour of this standoff, Irya stopped her low growl and no longer bent low. She turned her head towards Reia and made a loud bark in Keito's direction before dashing off into the trees in the blink of an eye.  
"What was that thing?" Keito asked, bemused.

"Why did you have to aggravate her?!" Reia barked, ignoring his brother's foolish question. He knew Keito meant well and was ignorant of what was going on, but he couldn't help but feel enraged at what he had done. _Now she's gone. I'm on my own again…_


	6. Finales Funklen

Chapter 6:

Finales Funkeln

"Avani" 阿瓦尼

The thunderous roar from the crowd above shook the flimsy, wooden walls of the locker room. It was jampacked with all kinds of redeemers of different ages, sizes, and builds. Avani was shocked that all these people lived within the confines of Kotai. Most of them were changing into their gear or sitting on the long, wooden bench that against all of the walls in the large room. Though some of the many figures conversed with one another; normally boasting of their skills or experience. She didn't see the point in all that, considering all their opponents were in the other locker room on the other side of the stadium.

There was a small radio that had an antenna fully extended on the top of the many lockers. It was bent about half way up at a forty-five degree angle, on the live channel of the preliminary challenger bracket. Many who were sitting listened intently on the state of the game above that they would soon be a part of.

Avani maneuvered through the infested crowd, somewhat stiff. _Why are you so nervous? Relax, you're going to make a scene. _She saw a clipboard nailed to the final post of the locker room before seeing a small, white, plastic table with a man sitting behind it and a woman scurrying about the locker room. They both looked stressed and unorganized.

"Terra! Have you gotten Jasper yet?!" The man shouted over the noisy murmuring of the jocks inside. "I need him ready to go! Second round has started already!"

"Working on it, Lloyd!" An equally loud holler came back to them over the heads of several people. It was clearly a woman's voice.

"How can I help you?" Lloyd turned his attention to Avani as she approached the table. Under his weary, dark-grey bags, and stubby, pointed nose was a five o'clock shadow. Above the verdant, sleep-deprived eyes was a messy mat of black, curly hair that somehow managed to look good on him. He wore a strange, silver headset that had a single speaker that covered his left ear. The mic was placed over his head near the end where a firm butt of the the second side clung onto the other side, over his round glasses.

"I need to sign in." Avani explained, putting a solid hand on the table.

"Okay, let me see." Lloyd shuffled through the papers, looking for the registered list, no doubt. "Ah! So what's your name? TERA! I TOLD YOU WE NEED JASPER OVER HERE NOW! THE SET COULD END AT ANY MINUTE!"

"Er—Avani. It's Avani Yao."

"Avani Yao…" He repeated, going down the first paper. "Avani Yao…Avani Y—Ah! There you are. Rouna is it? Not bad." He edged closer to her, leaning on the table. "Between you and me, some of these _redeemers_ came up with the dullest name I've ever seen." He half whispered with a crack of a smile. He sank back into his seat, noticing someone coming. "Ah! There you are, Terra! And you are the mighty Jasper, I presume?"

Terra was glaring as prominently as the sun at her coworker from the treatment she took from him; however, Lloyd continued to grin at the two of them, apparently oblivious. She had short, spiky, hair with a small face. She had the same, green uniform on as all the workers as well as an identical headset on her head. Pressed against her chest was a brown, thin clipboard that had a single arm sturdily wrapped around it.

"I—uh—yeah. That's me." The tall, muscular man nodded, uncomfortably. He looked very out of place with the whole conversation.  
"Fantastic!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Where was I again?" His eyes surfed around until he spotted Avani still standing there. She raised an eyebrow. _This guy is a total nut. _"Ah! Yes! Right!" Lloyd checked off a name on the list with one of the pens scattered on the table. "You're good to go, Rouna! The schedule is on the post over there." He tilted his head, Avani looked over her shoulder and saw clipboard on the wooden pillar again. "Best of luck!"

Avani left the table and walked over to the papers, searching through the schedule for her name. _I'm last?! _She fumed inside her head. The last match was likely to be roughly four hours from now and she already signed in. She had to stay in the locker room unless she wanted to forfeit.

Nevertheless, she swarmed through the restless mass of redeemers again, in search of her locker. She pulled out the small note in a zippered pocket of her gigantic bag. It was the locker information she was given upon completing her registration months ago. _It feels like forever since then._

Once Avani managed to locate and open it, she dropped her ridiculously heavy bag to the side of her leg, where sat on the bench. She was pretty far away from the radio and could barely make out a few words here and there that came from it.

As much as Avani wanted to hold the grudge of being the last match, she couldn't deny that it would be better in the long run. She'd have the most time to loosen up and mellow down in the environment. She hated to admit it, but she felt sick to her stomach being so near to a crowd, knowing she'd be going up there eventually.

Little by little, the locker room opened up as one-by-one, a redeemer went out through the door for ten to twenty minutes and then came back through the locker room, with either a triumphant expression or a bitter, dismal one. When there was no one else in her small pocket of lockers, she unzipped the bag and placed each individual piece on the bench—side by side.

Deciding to double her normal warm-ups while stretching out her muscles, Avani dropped to the floor, starting off with pushups. After two hundred pushups, a hundred and twenty crunches, three hundred jumping jacks, and twenty minutes of shuffling, she felt her enthusiasm rekindle her spirits. Going back to the basics seemed to put her back into the mindset she dreadfully thought she had lost when she entered the stadium this morning. She began to put her brilliant, metal padding on.

"Rouna?" Terra looked at the clipboard. "You're up next."

Avani nodded rigidly, too focused to respond, otherwise. She cracked her knuckles outward and loosened up her neck one last time before going over to the open doorway that led straight to the stadium. As the second final match unfolded, she flexed her legs repetitively, one after the other.

_I've got this._

After getting the clear, Avani went through the doorway to find a sudden wave of energy hit her. She found blaring lights block her vision for several moments as the deafening cheer of a crowd from all directions. She put a hand over her face to shield her eyes and kept moving, feeling several hundred eyes watching her every move. When her eyes adjusted, she noticed she came out of a doorway level to the bottom of the trench that encircled the arena. There was metal stairs against the wall of the ring where she assumed she needed to go. An announcers, muffled voice echoed through the entire stadium, however, Avani heard none of it. Everything sound that would normally be earsplitting, was somewhat distorted and incomprehensible. She kept her eyes fixated on the peak of the ring that slowly escaped her view as she approached the brass plating exterior.

At the top, there was the most beautiful ring Avani had laid eyes on. The rock in the middle ring had a certain compound in it that that gave it a dark, rich brown color instead of the bright, dull tan. The outside ring was full of a glamorous, red sand. She found her position to be in a thin, steel outline of a square instead of the chalk box she had started in her entire life. A twinkle of reflected light irritated her and she noticed the hundred and fourteen poles all hanging firmly above the ceiling. They looked brand new, polished for this specific match. In fact, everything looked as though no battles had been fought on the ring before despite this being the final fight.

_The finale. _Avani smirked, now relishing the time slot. She stood in the metal outline and lowered her head to the ground, still as a statue, ready for what came next.

"And the final match for the night: Rouna versus Colossus!" The announcer boomed after the spectators' cries finally diminished to a faint hum of chatter. The voice bounced off the walls two or three times, still perfectly audible. The audience had once again erupted, energetically.

_Come on! Do it already! _Avani felt jittery in anticipation but her discipline overpowered her instincts and she remained motionless. Though they waited until quiet had returned in the arena, most likely to draw out the excitement as long as possible. Most of the lights went out, only having the most primary ones shining on the ring to emit the only light left in the stadium. The crowd was left in the pitch black. The focus on the arena perfectly mirrored Avani's concentration. _This is it._ The last ten seconds were the longer than the four hours she had waited in the locker room.  
A jagged buzzer blared as the remaining lights suddenly flickered wildly. A split second later, the poles were released and pelted into the thick ground with the most magnificent sound of quality metal colliding with well high grade rock. The sturdy, deep ring of the tubes was of the best music she ever heard as she quickly started to swarm through the pool of dust.

_Still nothing. _The habitual hum from the poles lasted ages longer than the poles at Kotai Academy, but that was all to be heard at the moment. _Where did he go?_ Avani stopped and bent the metal sole of her dominant, left shoe up against her ankle before planting her barefoot on the the hard, smooth surface of the rock. Time slowed down as she felt herself travel through the vibrations of the a patch of arena. All were the hollow figures of the poles and the ground. There was no sound of footprints or a body in her seismic wave. Though it only covered a patch of the ring. _Come on! Focus! Extend your senses… _She took a deep breath and tried at it again. To the left there was a figure that was shaped like a body. _There you are. _She smiled, carefully treading towards the direction.

Avani's advantageous period had been cut short, however—she was too late. The dust cloud had thinned enough to be transparent—only an insignificant layer was still drifting in the air. It may have irritated the eyes of most, but not seasoned redeemers.

Immediately after facing one another, an explosive exchange of pelted rocks had skewered the fresh air with another cloud of debris. Avani sprinted boldly towards Colossus with top speed. He fired several new rocks, to stop the relentless attack in its track; however, Rouna skillfully evaded each one with relative easy. She jumped on the last few and propelled herself onto the peaks of the hollow poles, skipping between each one with astonishing speed. The obscure move had cause Colossus to skip a beat before performing a powerful cut with his arm. A couple dozen of the poles within his vicinity were halved at once. Rouna's running path was collapsing around her so she was forced to jump high into the sky.

She still managed to continue her arcane assault, somehow. Her jump was aimed right into Colossus. He erected a pillar, to offset her once more. Rouna cracked it in two with the brute force of her fall. Her foe had tumbled not a moment too soon to avoid her crescent sweep that ran upwards like a rainbow. A horrendous shriek had cut through the air. He had quickly broke one of the steel poles nearby and was gripping it like a sledgehammer.

For a moment, they both paused, studying each other before Rouna continued her pursuit. Colossus wound up a quick blow that Avani shielded with the metal sheets encasing her forearms. She attempted a quick punch in retaliation, but Colossus managed to duck under the blow. He shifted the earth under Rouna's feet upwards. It was clear he was losing in close combat. Avani jumped once again onto one of the nearby poles and knelt there for a couple seconds.

Colossus quickly broke the pole he carried in two and threw one after the other straight at her. Rouna loosened her legs to slip down the pole, fluently spinning around as she sank. The first shard had missed from overhead; the second, though, stuck into the padding of her right arm that was used to block the projectile. A surge of pain shot through her arm. It clearly skewered the surface of her skin. She muttered a curse as she pulled the blade, enraged. _I didn't realize they were so sharp!_

She planted her feet on the sturdy ground, back at square one. The sharp pain pricked under her armor along with a warm sensation of blood smearing against the wound. She glared ferociously at her opponent.

Colossus struck the ground with his palm, carrying tremendous force. A large dust storm formed obediently traveling towards Rouna. She condensed both of her arms inwards, up against her ribcage. at least fifty of the poles in her surrounding were broken off their hinges immediately and formed a sturdy dome that blocked the worse of the storm. _Do it now!_ With all the dust Colossus had created, Avani had at least a twenty second opening to counter with a powerful attack without fear of taking any punishment.

She took several large steps forward before straightening her hands, stressfully. _So—so heavy! _She tightened every muscle in her body to support the weight and slowly the dome changed into an enormous wall. Following her hand motions, the wall pummeled forward towards Colossus, uprooting all the rock in its path. He looked at it, aghast, trying to formulate the strongest wall he could in front of him but it crumbled within seconds. He was propelled into the air along with the wreckage of thousands of pieces of rock. A loud bell rang that could only mean he was knocked out the ring. Rouna couldn't tell, from the enormous fog that had formulated from the two immense moves.

Like a switch, Avani's other senses turned on, hearing the cheering of the crowd and the enthusiastic rambling of the announcer. During the fight all the noise of the spectators, all the rumbling of the commentator was completely block out in her focus.

"WHAT. AN. _EXPLOSIVE_ BATTLE! Rouna absolutely decimates Colossus with the move of a lifetime! Absolutely amazing! I've never seen anything like it before!" Despite the announcer's screaming, it still was drowned out by the explosion of the crowd

A wide, gloating smile cracked her face. Avani raised her arms over her head. _I did it! s_he thought, extraordinarily relieved_. I won! I'm going to Ekta!_

* * *

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

Trees became scarce on the road. The patch of vegetation that kept Kotai thriving only extended for a twenty mile radius or so. They were going eastward, reaching the the rocky roads of a baron wasteland by mid-afternoon. After several hours of driving, it seemed that there was no signs of life whatsoever, excluding the occasional cactus sticking out of the. It was mid-afternoon, probably around 14:30. The glaring sun was just low enough to be cooking their backs through the rear window of the car as they headed eastward.

"Where exactly are we going anyway?" Reia asked after several hours of quiet, uncomfortable driving. _I can't believe I didn't consider this sooner._

"We're on the way to Omashu," Keito said, taking a hand off the leather steering wheel to wipe the sweat off his forehead.  
"Omashu?! That's a terrible idea!" Reia argued, baffled by the idea. "Why would we stay in the city right next door to Kotai?"

"We aren't staying there!" Keito snapped impatiently. "We're stopping there to restock on food and gas—maybe stay the night at an inn or something."

"Oh—okay," Reia said, alleviated. "Well, then where is our destination? Like, long term?"

"I don't know, yet," Keito admitted. "We may've made it out of Kotai but I expect we'll have more difficulties crossing the Adryan borders. Zeke is looking for you now, the opening we had to leave the city is closed. We'll have to come up with a good reason for leaving the country; along with fake IDs, I suppose. Every guard in Adryan will certainly be informed about us."

The expression his brother gave him prompted him to say more. "Hey! I'm just a single person; I can't have everything sorted out in a single day! Feel free to input something at any time, _Avatar._" He fussed, defensively.

"Right—sorry." Reiatsu turned towards the window again. _He's so bitter when he's stressed. _Though he did feel guilty from his lack of contribution towards figuring out what to do. _It's not out of lack of effort; or, at least, I don't think it is. It's not like I have any progress to show for my efforts._

"What exactly happened in that school, anyway?" Keito asked, curiously. "When I got there it looked like the entire school was flipped upside down; the students were fighting all over the place. I thought the place had gone absolutely mad."

"They figured out I was the Avatar," Reia stated, blankly. "I thought that was pretty obvious."

"That still doesn't explain anything!" Keito exclaimed, irritated. "How did you know you figure this out? How did others? Why is it that I was called about this two hours before I went over to get you and you were fine before that?"

"We—we had this—er—assembly, I guess. It was held in the Redemption Ring in the school," Reia recalled, squinting his eyes to remember the circumstances again. His speech was as fragmented as his thoughts. "There was…this strange chair in the middle of the room, it looked pretty spiritual and whatnot. A bunch of earth sages had come to the school in search of the Avatar. They called everyone of us by name to sit on the chair. Oh yeah! The chair had had all the four elements surrounding it in a great circle. I just remembered that!

"Anyway, once it came to me I did the same. Something about it felt queer. I felt unnaturally comfortable and had this sudden urge to—to uh…" Reia dropped off. _How can I possibly describe the sensation I felt?_ Even as vivid as it still was in his brain, expressing them through words seemed impossible. "Whatever, it doesn't really matter," he dismissed. "Basically I felt a strange sensation and then I passed out. I don't know for how long, but when I woke up I was in the infirmary, alone. After that I tried get out in a crazed panic about Zeke getting to me, but the sages tried to stop me. Their stupidity got me in a heap of trouble and ultimately caused the chaos of the academy. If they let me go, no one would've noticed that I was around and everything would've turned out a lot smoother." He finished bitterly.

"A chair?" Keito said. He looked lost in deep thought now.

"What?" Reia asked anxiously. _Was this all some ploy to ruin my life?!_ His heart suddenly started raising. It couldn't be. What about the markings, the pain, the earth sages?  
"I remember reading something a couple years ago about a certain throne that was passed around the Air Nomads for 'the bridge's meditations.' It had to be at least several thousand years old. Did it look old?"

"Yeah!" Reia gasped. "It looked like it would break from a small breeze, but once I sat there it felt like a regular chair: perfectly sturdy." The two of them became silent, both theory-crafting in their own heads.

Several more hours passed as they sat in the car. The sun had thankfully lowered enough behind that they no longer felt as uncomfortable. However, Reia had received some sunburns from his spine to the tips of his shoulders. Every slight movement he did in the seat ended up rubbing the irritated skin against it, burning and itching the area one more. _We should've been at Omashu hours ago… Not to mention how dead this road is in the wasteland. I haven't seen a single car all day._

"We're lost, aren't we?" Reia said bluntly, looking out the window. He felt sulky and strangely enough, exhausted, despite sitting through the whole day.

"No we're not," Keito answered still looking ahead on the road.

"…Totally lost," Reiatsu quietly persisted.

"I said I know where we are!" Keito snapped.

"Oh wait, this looks familiar." Reia suddenly shot up.

"Really?" Keito said, his eyes shined with hope. It was a fatal mistake that only proved Reia's suspicions.

"Yeah, I know! We're in the Land of the Lost: Dead and Buried," Reia stated, with mocked enthusiasm.

Keito screwed his face up with his left hand in frustration. "You know, I have half a mind of turning this car around and giving your butt to Dad inside the Ekta throne room. So could you try to be less annoying than usual for today? For the sake of my sanity?"

"I'm just saying, you should probably look for some help and ask for directions," Reia pointed out with a shrug.

"Absolutely not! We are staying out any direct contact, excluding buying supplies—but I'm doing all of that," Keito ushered, soundly.

"Well unless you can teleport us, we may be forced to!" Reia insisted. "I mean we are under a certain time restraint; if we don't make it to Omashu soon we could run out of—"

To his silent dread, the engine suddenly sputtered for several, hushed, drawn out moments. It then wheezed it's last bit of gas out of the internal combustion engine and the car steadily loss momentum. "—gas…" His voice faintly echoed as the car wheeled into a complete stop. _Typical—Just typical…_

Keito immediately got out of the motor carriage and opened the hood of the car, desperately looking inside it. His brother slowly slumped out of the vehicle as well. pinching the bridge of his nose in silent fury. "Zeke taught you how to drive… How. Can. You. Possibly. FORGET ABOUT GAS?!"

"I'm—I'm sorry," Keito submitted, looking down at the ground. "I've only driven in the city before so I've never really gone through a whole tank in a single drive before. It didn't come to mind. I should've been looking—I just was going automatically."

"Well now you might have your wish!" Reiatsu continued, indignantly. "I don't think we'll come into contact with anyone ever again!"

His brother still said nothing, and only managed to look at Reia's shoes. "GAH!" He kicked the dirt at his feet and a majority of it bounced off the road. "Now what?! Your pride is going to get us killed in this desert!"

"Quiet, Reiatsu!" Keito suddenly urged, hearing a twig snap. "Someone could hear us."

"How can _ANYONE_ hear us?!" Reia roared, outraged. "We're stuck in the middle of nowhere, thanks to someone!" Though his wave of anger stopped abruptly as he took a heavy breath of air. There was a faint hum in the distance behind them. It sounded like an engine. _Great! Now my ears are playing tricks on me…_

Though he quickly found himself eating his own words when he noticed a far, indeterminable figure escape the horizon and slowly creep up the road. He took a deep breath, relieved. "No way. That's way too lucky," he whispered to himself.

"Wait!" Keito put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to duck behind the car. "What if it's some of Dad's men? We have to be careful."

"Caution is a luxury we lost once the gas tank had depleted," Reia hissed back. "Besides, I'm not particularly picky at the moment; even if they are looking for me _and _recognize me I'll have a quicker and kinder death from Zeke than the alternative of starving out here under a blazing sun. I'm not going to gamble the chance of another car coming through the road in time to save our butts."

"No, Reia wait!" But it was too late, Reia had already shot back up and started to walk in plain sight on the side of the road, waving his hands as wildly as he could. Keito pressed his back to the car, still keeping out of sight. He readied his hands, prepared to strike at the drop of a hat as he watched Reia from afar. Reiatsu decided to keep his head away from their car, to avoid suspicion of another person being with him. _I suppose some caution can't hurt—even in this desperate situation._

The white automobile gradually lost speed until it stopped dead in the middle of the road, four and a half meters from where Reia stood. It was a colossal semi truck to his bemusement. He felt slightly exposed all of the sudden. He did have a thin long sleeve shirt and pants, but he wasn't sure if his hair was both long and thick enough to completely cover the marks on his forehead. He nervously combed his bangs as the huge doors from both sides of the truck opened.

A middle aged man with grey, hair and patches of bald spots at the top of his head came out from the driver's seat. His companion had short, glistening, hair and flawless skin. She was rather small but was clearly full-grown from the maturity of her face. Reiatsu thought this kind of sight would've brought him relief, yet his heart was still speeding through his body. _They're just travelers, pull yourself together!_

"Hello there!" the middle aged man called out, amiably, walking towards Reia.

"Er—hi," Reia said, awkwardly. "I ran out of gas and am kinda stranded here—though, I guess you could see that much for yourself."

"Ah—yes. Westplains Freeway can be a bit tricky like that." The man smiled sympathetically.

"You sound like you're coming from experience," Reia stated, quizzically.

"Yup, I've had my fair share of problems in this devil's cross—had to be only a month ago I had a flat tire on the final lap of my trip!" His companion covered her exquisite face in her hand, embarrassed. The old man didn't seem to notice. "Name's Kyong, by the way; I'm a traveling merchant. I often go down this abandoned road for my stock trade between Kotai and Omashu. This here's my daughter, Eria."

"Rei—er—Ruo-jian," Reia corrected, bowing with a reassuring smile. They didn't seem too suspicious from the fumble of words. Eria smiled back, warmly. _How is she not sweating from this heat?!_

Kyong craned his head, glancing past Reiatsu and studied the car from afar. "Welp, I don't have any spare gas on me or any tools to take out of my own tank, unfortunately. We can take you over to Omashu if you'd like. I know a guy who can get that tolled to the city within a day's time."

"How did you know I was going to Omashu?" Reia asked, slightly anxious.

"No one goes on this road unless they are heading to either Kotai or Omashu. It's literally just a straight highway from both cities; there aren't any other streets it branches into—hence why it's practically abandoned," Eria spoke up with a sweet, angelic voice.

"How would I travel with you?" Reia asked, doubtfully. "There's only two seats and I don't think I would survive in the cargo considering the heat."

"Luckily, we've got a cooler in the back. We're transporting frozen meat so I think you won't have to worry about that." Kyong smiled. "Albeit, it won't be the most comfortable ride of your life but everything's securely in place so it's completely safe. Omashu is only a twenty minute drive from here, give or take."

"Ruo, what's going on?" Keito suddenly called, behind him. Reia completely forgot he was peering in on the conversation.

"There you are, brother!" Reia exclaimed, playing along. "I found some help! This generous man offered us a ride to Omashu! It's only twenty minutes away!"

"This is your brother?" Eria asked, attempting to conceal her surprise.

"My name's Shaozu, it's a pleasure to meet you," Keito responded with a bow as well. _I don't like this._ It felt bad enough that they were asking for help, but lying about their names made him feel guilty of some crime. _They are nice people, they don't deserve to be played a fool with._

_Why? Why let the spirits taint your warm heart? _"I feel filthy." Reiatsu spoke up after a minute of sitting in the large, crowded cargo of the trailer. The chilly air was a welcomed change when they had first gotten in, but now they were forced to put on heavy coats from the bag they pulled out of their car.

"It was necessary," Keito answered stiffly. They sat facing one another on medium-sized boxes. His foggy breath was easily seen because of the white, walls behind it. He looked solemnly to the ground, wearing his usual, apathetic face. Though it was more of a shielding method than anything else right now. Reia could see it plainly enough.

"Was it, though?" Reia persisted, doubtful. "It's just a traveling merchant with his daughter—not like he's going to give us background checks or something."

"No," Keito said, flatly. "If you tell them who you are because they're innocent, you will make them relevant. They'd no longer be innocent. The less they know, the better off they are. Ignorance is bliss."

"But—"

"Reia!" Keito barked, irritated. "I know it may seem cruel and heartless, but if you could just stomach yourself doing it you would understand that it's making the best of this situation. Nothing is as simple as just good or evil, I don't think you realize that."

A large bump shook the crate and cause a raucous crash as some metal objects in the far back were lifted in the far corner out of Reia's sight. It put an immediate end to their debate. He felt a sickening feeling shuffle in his stomach at his brother's words.

_Perhaps I never will._

* * *

"Ryung Jae" ईबहलु ऱोा

Ryung Jae went out into the still air of Air Temple Island. The breeze picked up after a few steps and then suddenly stopped once more. He looked above at the clouded skies to see a nasty grey field that was steadily engulfing Republic City. "There's a storm coming." He sighed, still taking in the unsettling sight. "A big one." A second sprout of wind brushed against his skin as if to convince him otherwise. A shiver ran down his uneasy spine, convincing him to keep moving.

A low, bellowed whimper came from the outside dens. The sound would've easily been mistaken for a wrathful roar to anyone not accustomed to being around a flying bison. He half-jogged, half walked towards the wooden fencing and opened the gates before walking inside.

"What's the matter Ecko?" Ryung asked, seeing the anxious movements of his life companion. "Are you hungry?" He rubbed a soothing hand on the soft, white fur that rustled with the draft. Ecko stirred before levitating a meter or two off the ground, spiraling in a wide circle. She was about four meters long and two meters high covered entirely in white fur excluding the brown stripe that ran down her back from head to tail. The stripe ended with an arrowhead. The same markings that were engraved across an Airbender's entire body. Her two grey horns were crooked inwards with the left one being ever so slightly longer than the right.

After her little flight, Ecko looked over at the base of an entrance to a cave that was only three meters away. Her brown eyes filled with pleading excitement. Hung on a nail was one of the dustiest reigns Ryung had ever laid eyes on. He walked over to the rock wall and rubbed his hand against the leather. They felt as if they were as brittle as glass from the years of idle behavior. A sturdy nudge from his back made him stumble a bit. He smiled, sadly. "I know you want to fly out into the sky, like the old days—but you know why it can't happen.

"Times have changed, my dearest friend. We can't fly as freely as we used to be able to back in the day, it's too dangerous now. Republic City has adopted a misdirected rage at people like us." The Airbender sighed.

"_Slow down, Ryung!" Jinora laughed, trailing his son with Nitnem, her own sky bison. Her son pretended not to hear, to engrossed by the wind that filled his body up with an energy he'd never felt before. 'I'm flying! Aha!'_

_However, his new companion did not ignore her and slowed down until he was treading in the air, gradually descending before his six monstrous feet planted firmly on the green grass. "Hey! You buzzkill!" He exclaimed, still smiling uncontrollably. Every ounce of his body felt weightless at that very moment as he jumped down from what would become his longest living friend. Being up in the skies, even for only five minutes, felt exhilarating, like he could do anything_—_nothing was beyond of his control._

"_Wow! She likes you a lot! It took Nitnem almost a whole month to start showing affection towards me…" his mother said, landing next to the young bison with her elderly one. "What're you going to name her?" Her dark eyes lit up with excited curiosity. The rustling of a thousand faraway trees sounded moments before wind blew a several strands of brown hair into her warm, carefree face._

"_I'm sorry, Ryung Jae," a low, grim voice said, moments before a tentative arm rubbed the back of his shoulder. He was sitting at the one of many wooden pews in the large room. Sunlight had started to peak out of the edge of the windows and hit his thighs. They remained as cold as ice, however. "Jinora was like a sister to me." He glanced up at the shiny, mahogany coffin that was placed at the front of the council room. It was near empty now as the funeral had been over for well over two hours. He could still hear the muffled chatter outside. He felt his blood heat up from the friendly laughter that occurred during the discussion. 'How can there be happiness now that she is gone?' He felt his blood heat up from the friendly laughter that occurred during the discussion._

"_Who are you?!" Ryung demanded, sounding like a child in a tantrum. "She was the only person in my life and she never spoke a word of you!" His tone was venomous with anger. 'As if he knows the pain I'm going through.' I was only fifteen at the time…_

"_My name is Zander," the man with an ebony, bushy mustache said. "I'm the Chief of Police." He didn't seem to upset with Ryung's harsh words, in fact, he seemed to have expected such treatment. "If you ever want to talk about it. I'm here for you."_

"_You weren't here for her when she needed you," he sneered maliciously. To his satisfaction, it seemed to have struck a nerve that Zander hadn't protected well enough. He got up from his kneeling position and started to walk away without another word._

A sudden burst of air that blew his hair out of his eyes, bringing him back to see that Ecko had flopped down onto the dirt in front of him. The bison spread out her six, stubby legs before rolling over on her back. Ryung instinctively walked over to to the black, bulky stomachs and rubbed Ecko's usual sweet spot. "Hang in there, girl." He sniffled after turning away from the flying bison. _When did I start crying?_

He continued to walk onwards to the shallow beach of the island where a long, wooden dock was outstretched with only three small boats in the port.

"You ready?" Chen called, noticing Ryung approaching his own boat.

It wasn't long until they silently made the near-daily trip across Yue Bay again. There was very little to think about as he sat in Chen's motorboat, occasionally feeling a prick of a few droplets of water hitting either his arm or face. He kept his grim eyes at the towering buildings of Republic City with a thin sense of malice.

There was no other place he'd rather not be in and yet here he found himself, going to City Hall. Rohan's first appeal was scheduled today, immediately after the punishment was agreed to be twenty years in prison. Zander had kept frequent updates since Ryung's last, dramatic visit. It was hard to believe that such a gentle, innocent, old man could be treated so coldly.

When he had finally arrived in City Hall's council room, he saw that it was filled to the brim with people. Most of them were already seated as well as the judge, however Ryung had only missed a big chunk of the tedious intro from what he gathered.

"…Rohan versus Republic City.' Now then, On March 21st, 246 ASC the defendant was convicted of first degree murder." He read aloud, keeping his eyes on his desk. "The defendant is guilty of all charges and is sentence to 'twenty years of prison with chance for parole'. Is that correct?"

"It is indeed, Your Honor." Rohan's lawyer nodded, sitting next to Ryung's Uncle with a collective expression to match his neat and orderly paperwork.

"Very good," the judge continued. "The charges were for the murder of Ying Wei, the head of an anti-spiritual movement. This was a peaceful protest, correct? Your client neither was nor claims to be provoked or assaulted? He doesn't wish for the charges to be adjusted to second degree murder?" Ryung sidestepped past several people and found an opening on the wall that he leaned on.

"No, my client will continue to plead innocence," the lawyer said, adjusting the glasses on his crooked nose. A few snickers came out of the surrounding crowd. Ryung tried his best to ignore them and kept his thoughts focused on the appeal.

"Mister—Rohan." The judge hesitated, uncertainly. "There are no less than nine witnesses who have insisted—under oath mind you—that Ryung was fully responsible for the death of Mr. Wei. Do you really think that pleading innocence in the appeal will free you if, in the trial, it did not? Unless there is a newfound argument you wish to present, then by all means, I surrender the floor."

"I think you misunderstand me, Your Honor," Rohan started, standing up. He interrupted his lawyer's unprofessional retort, thankfully, who stood with his mouth opened wide in outrage. "I do not plead innocence because it is the smartest thing to do in my position, but because it is the truth…and I always stand by the truth. Only when I forsake the truth so that I can achieve freedom—only then, do I become truly guilty."

The court erupted with many retorts that made only a few words distinguishably comprehensible. It felt like Ryung, Rohan, and his lawyer were the only ones who remained quiet during the deafening chaos.

"ORDER IN THE COURT! I SAID ORDER!" The judge's bellows finally surfaced. It looked like he was trying to break his desk with the amount of force he put behind banging his gavel.

"Now then," he breathed, finally regaining control of the court. "the defendant maintains his plea of innocence. During the trial—_**During the trial**_," he picked up as a few individuals had raised their voices again, "every witness testified against you. I have with me the exact transcription of said testimonies as well as the entire month-long trial. You had no alibis, no better defence than that the witnesses were framing you because of your nationality—you even have a clear motive for wanting Mr. Wei dead; so how is it, that you expect me as well as everyone else in this courtroom to believe that you did not kill this man?"

"How can I expect you to believe me? I can't, Your Honor," Rohan admitted, with a sharp look. "However when all nine witnesses come from the same cult that despises Airbenders as well as their practices—when all nine witnesses are _on record_ for being personally acquainted with one another and could've easily collaborated some fictitious story to prosecute me of a crime that might as well have my name stamped on it. It is my wish that—ladies and gentlemen, please—" he said, as the jury once again got out of hand. "It is my wish that you and every person that sits here today considers just how high the evidence is stacked against me. Doesn't that seem a little suspiciously convenient for the prosecution? In my experience, when something covers every nook and cranny of the investigation, it loses its credibility."

At this, the court had completely lost it. Everything was in complete disarray as many people were arguing from across the room, but most were spitting insults in Uncle Rohan's direction. _It's like they expect him not to defend his liberty… How do people call this justice?_

It was too much to handle. Ryung slipped through the back row of the crowd, unnoticed with their attention so prominently focused on arguing.

He open the door, soundlessly, and walked out into the main lobby of City Hall. He was surprised that it had started to rain heavily now. The courtroom must've drowned out the noise whenever it started.

Ryung felt a sadness on his journey back to Air Temple Island. In any other situation, he would've been livid and demanded something to be done about it. Though Rohan's words just made him discouraged. _Will they ever learn?_

Ryung Jae peered out from the dock, seeing Chen's small, crooked hut lit up in the distance of a grassy hill. He decided not to trouble Chen with a ride back onto the island. It was night, after all; no one would see him. He reached underneath the edge of the dock and felt his hand around a circular, wooden pole. It was his old staff that he kept if he was in an instance like this. The wood was damp and soggy from the months of tides crashing in under the dock, but it was perfectly usable.

After taking one last, cautious look around the area, he took three steps back before sprinting off the dock and flying one and a half meters above the crashing waves. The storm that had started was putting as much hostility in the waves as the court was on Rohan. Though the rain continued to dampen his hair and face, Ryung felt a rush of liberation. There was no one there to see him, to judge him, or put him down. All the world he left behind at the dock. It wasn't like the energetic kid he had been, though, but a calm, soothing sensation from the wind blowed away the weariness in his face.

Using his glider, Ryung noticed he made excellent time across the Yue Bay and could land right at the main doors of main building. As he walked in, the heavy drops of the rain had distorted to their light, comfortable counterparts.

All the candles were extinguished and an uncanny silence was about. "Dear?" Ryung called in the empty hallway. He slowly walked forward still uneasy. "I'm home!" The wooden floorboards creaked at each step his damp boots made. Even at midnight it was unlike Yuna to leave the house completely dark. _And it's only nine…_

"Yuna?" he called, feeling uneasy at the lack of response. "Aerika? Lavanya? Where are you knuckleheads?" Still nothing came back to him but a faint echo. _Maybe they're in the dining hall? _It didn't make much sense considering how late it was, but then again neither did the current scenario.

He looked around the kitchen for a note or something, but his wife did not leave anything.

A high pitched shriek resonated from above, that turned his stomach to steel. _That's Aerika!_ Ryung rushed up the stairs as quickly as he could manage, knocking over a flower pot in his haste. "Aerika?!" He shouted, filled with dread.

When he got to the door upstairs, he blasted it down immediately with all the energy he could muster. The remaining force of the air blew through the bookroom. Ryung stopped in the doorway, breathing deeply with anxiety.

Aerika was scrunched up against the far corner near a shattered window. The curtains were cut from the broken glass and flowed freely with the wind that entered the room, like a flag.

In between Aerika and Ryung was a figure cloaked with a black trenchcoat and a silver purim mask with a strange array of grey glitter that went along the cheeks. They sprouted like flowers in several organized spirals. Together they looked like a spiritual branch that was decoratively woven around the outskirts of the mask. An ornate, grey brocade laced the perimeter of the strange visor. It covered what ever bit the hood did not.

She looked at Ryung with blue, piercing eyes, for what felt like days on end. _Is that—is that Charisma?! _Ryung considered, sporadically. He lifted his arms, expecting her to fight. A strike of lightning lit up the entire room. Charisma had immediately jumped out of the window with unfathomable agility. The crack of thunder sounded several seconds after she had already disappeared. _How did she do that? _Even being an airbender, Ryung couldn't hope to be so nimble.

"Aerika!" Ryung yelled over the howling wind as he approached her in the corner. Aerika was hiding under her legs until she heard her father's voice and looked up. Tears were streaming down her face and she was trembling violently, however, she only had a small cut below her right eye. "Are you all right?!" Ryung Jae asked, anxiously.

Aerika nodded vigorously. All the color had drained out of her face. "Is—is muh—mommy okay?" she asked, stuttering.

Ryung turned around to face something taken straight out of a nightmare. Yuna was laying on the ground, motionless on the far side of the room. _It can't be… _"Go—go find your sister. Both of you pack anything you need, we're leaving," Ryung Jae said hollowly. Aerika ran out of the room, tripping under her own feet as she went.

Ryung ran up to Yuna and saw there was a considerable amount of blood near her abdomen. He locked his eyes up at her face, unable to glance down at the worst of the wounds.

"Yu—Yuna?" he quivered, looking at her shining, golden eyes that stared blankly at the ceiling. The remnants of her dried up tears glistened as another strike of lightning illuminated behind Ryung's shivering back. His vision quickly became obscured from the tears that watered in his eyes. "No…" He denied with a whisper.

He lifted Yuna's torso to his lap. It was as light as air. His entire body chilled as it slowly sunk into his abnormally sluggish thoughts. He planted his face on her cold chest, feeling all the strength escape from his shivering limbs. Whether it was for five seconds, five hours, or five years, he didn't care. He stayed in that position, weeping with anguish. Ryung took several onerous gasps in between his melancholy shudders of breath.

A final strike of lightning came down and lit the room at once. The afterlight lasted several seconds longer than the first two and lit up Yuna's corpse again. She seemed more beautiful than ever. It was surreal, like every other thing in this world was grey, two-dimensional. Though the light eventually did die out and the darkness reclaimed Air Temple Island. The weather seemed to finalize everything. It was Yuna's _finales funkeln_.

_The light has gone out of my life._


	7. Stark Fields Among Us

Chapter 7:

Stark Fields Among Us

"Nilak" 尼罗河

Nilak quickly jogged through the open street across City Hall, getting drenched by the downpour of rain. The storm had been going strong for at least thirty-six hours now, yet it still showed no signs of lighting up. The wind occasionally drowned out the sirens of the emergency vehicles, but the strobe lights shined through the heavy droplets of rain. _What on earth happened here? _He wondered, stopping in the middle of the road for a split second to study the surrounding area.

There was half a dozen ambulances, and an entire perimeter encompassing City Hall in a giant circle. Most of the police had stayed on the lawn of City Hall, just past the 'DO NOT CROSS' tape of the crime scene. A crowd of civilians were standing around the cop cars, demanding something from the officials behind the yellow tape.

He had received voice mail from Anno half an hour ago to come down to City Hall as soon as possible. Anno had only mentioned they desperately needed his help. He didn't explain anything else.

It took a lot of effort and patience to get past the begrudging crowd; for whatever reason, they were stubbornly adamant about staying as close to the crime scene as they were allowed. It was also frightening seeing them up close. No individual seemed particularly happy about the circumstances and Nilak had a sneaking suspicion that one small thing could set off a catastrophic chain reaction.

"Councilman Nilak!" An officer exclaimed with a sigh of relief. He lifted the tape for the councilman to duck under. Once Nilak was through he smiled and gave a slight bow to the policeman and continued on to the front of City Hall. _I assume they're inside. _He glanced around the outside of the building just to be certain they weren't in sight.

If he thought the outside was crowded, then the inside was absolutely congested. After leaving the haven of the double doors, there was little room to breath in let alone work in. There were several desks set up with hundreds of small bags as well as a whole pool of people who were in line for what looked like an interrogation. Even with the floor being wet with all the soaked shoes walking around the floor, many detectives were _jogging_ around from place to place in the utmost urgency. Nilak had gotten used to City Hall pretty quickly, however, this place was nothing like it. Alongside the general low but distracting murmur of the mass of people Nilak was engulfed in, there was the loud squeak of a damp shoe hitting the slippery, marble floor.

Overall, it seemed most of the brunt of this investigation was stemmed from a doorway (with no door oddly enough) that went downwards into underground. To his relief, he saw Taige was standing alongside Cecilia just outside. Without a second thought, he steered his way towards the pair of them.

"Nilak!" Taige exclaimed, going up to hug him as soon as she noticed him. _She looks a lot better today. _It looked as though she had returned back to her usual, peppy self. Nilak smiled, embracing her for a short while. Taige's smooth body flourished a wave of warmth to his own.

Nilak was soon brought back to his senses, noticing Cecilia was rolling her eyes from behind them. He broke apart.

"Er—sorry," Taige said, sheepishly. "Guess you kinda feel a bit lost."

'_That's okay, random hugs are cool.'_

She chuckled. "After I left the council meeting and everything, I noticed I never got around to thanking you for—well… you know. Anyways, I felt bad for being so inconsiderate! If it weren't for you, I would've lost my necklace that night. I can't believe I was so selfish!"

'_We were threatened with our lives, nearly robbed, and (not to mention) drunk. I think it was okay to freak out a little bit,' _Nilak motioned, concealing his amusement. _It's quite strange how these kinds of things bug her._

"I know," Taige answered. "but I should've gotten around to doing it at the meeting. Somehow I knew you didn't take offense to it. I just felt guilty and really needed to get that off my chest, regardless."

'_By the way, what's going on around here?' _Nilak asked, confused. '_What exactly happened?'_

"I don't know, to be honest," Taige responded with a frown. "I've only been here with Cecilia for a few minutes. No one's told me anything, either."

"We'd find out in less than a minutes if you two knuckleheads would quit chitchatting," Cecilia suddenly called out, kicking her body off the wall and walking towards where they stood. "Anno said to come down to the prison cells once we're all here so no one is lost. And here we are: all here. Your little reunion is cute and all to watch, but I'd like to know what's going on."

She casually led the way back to the doorway and went down the stairs, without a second glance. Nilak and Taige froze. They looked at one another for a split second before looking away, abashed. Nilak's head felt like the surface of the sun for a few moments as they somewhat reluctantly followed after the distant footsteps down below.

He always felt content with labeling Taige as a friend. It was hard to believe it had been just shy of two months since they had first met. So much had happened since he got off the Shànlián. He learned so much about urban life—so much about other people. The only people he had ever been in direct contact with in the Northern Water Tribe were his brother, Rivik, and his mother. No one else had ever reached out to him the way Taige did. He thought that made them close friends but Cecilia's words had made him doubt himself. _Am I falling for her? _Nilak sneaked a quick glance at Taige as if expecting the answer to be written on her face.

Each step they made on the black, cast iron spiral staircase sounded a low, metallic, ring. It was a hollow cave filled with only a steel floor, cells, and plating that stood about two hundred and forty-three centimeters high against the rock walls. Almost no one was here except for Anno, peering at what looked like a completely desolate cell door, and another officer that was leaning loosely in the far corner, observing Anno's progress from afar.

"Where's Karcsi?" Cecilia asked once her feet had touched the floor.

"He's too busy for this matter. He's a part of Supreme People's Council, after all," Anno reminded her.

"Why are you even bothering, Anno?" the officer asked, absentmindedly. "It's pretty obvious who did it."

"Who did what?" Taige asked.

"Rohan broke out of prison last night," Anno panted, constrained by his arched back and his knees bent close to the ground. "His appeal finished yesterday…it didn't work out too well for him. By the way, this is Zander Bingwen, the Chief of Police. Zander this is pretty much the entire council."

Zander Bingwen gave a slight wave of his hand. The expression on his wrinkly face seemed somewhat guilty and he didn't keep eye contact with any of them for long. "Anyways, you see the markings on the bars? Yeah, those ones on the right. That's clearly airbending marks. That alone makes it obvious. Ryung felt desperate for his uncle's freedom after witnessing the appeal and took him and fled the city. Case closed."

"Don't you think you're being a little too hasty on drawing conclusions? Shouldn't you of all people be giving Ryung Jae the benefit of the doubt?" Anno said, irritated.

"The evidence of airbending makes it plain and clear!" Zander argued. "Not to mention he was here during Rohan's appeal, dozens of people can attest to that. Unless you happen to know about any other airbender that live in this city, it's obvious. Is there even any other suspects to take into consideration?"

Anno stayed silent for several moments, choosing his next words carefully. "All I know is that nothing is certain. Ryung could be completely irrelevant to this for all we know. The point is it's a possibility."

"I have police forces investigating the Island as we speak," Zander said, shaking a walkie-talkie that was cupped in his hand. "From what they've already searched, it's safe to say that no one's home."

"What if Rohan just busted himself out?" Taige considered. "Isn't he also an airbender?"

"It's impossible. Prisoners are given a daily pill that blocks their chi energy if they're benders. He would have to've faked swallowing several weeks worth of pills under three guards' eyes. Even after that his bending would be too weak to cut paper, let alone metal," Anno explained. "It's safe to assume that he received outside help that _hints _to an airbender. That is all."

A grating voice said from the walkie-talkie. "Chief Bingwen, there's a corpse of a young women on the island. Judging by the body she looks to be dead for at least twenty-four hours." The sound was slightly muffled.

"What?! Give me details, Detective!" Zander demanded. His sullen, bitter face immediately transformed, horror-struck.

"Black hair—gold eyes…roughly a hundred seventy centimeters tall."

"Yuna…" Zander whispered, looking away from everyone. "NO!" He slammed both his fists into the nearby cell that shrieked a deep bang on contact. For a split second, Nilak noticed that Zander Bingwen's face was contorted with rage and grief before he covered his head in his arms. It took several, long minutes for the Chief of Police to recover from the news and talk into the walkie-talkie again. "Ch-check for survivors. I want to know exactly what happened by noon, is that understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'm terribly sorry about my outburst." Zander turned to the council. "I—I must go…" He left them alone in the cellar as fast as he could casually walk.

Anno had stopped what he was doing and was sitting on the floor with a grim expression. A lengthy, enduring silence held onto the room for a short while. Nilak kept his eyes to the black ditch under his feet.

"What did you send us for?" Cecilia broke the stiff silence. "Do you want us to help at the chaos upstairs or…?"

"No." Anno jolted. He hadn't moved a single muscle during the quiet. "Karcsi has gotten around with the President. Things are worse than even he had feared." Nilak found it hard to imagine that Karcsi was capable of feeling such emotions.

"One of us needs to go to Beijia and resolve this issue," Anno said sadly. "It is our top priority now."

'_Why does it have to be one of us? What about the Supreme People's Court?' _Nilak looked at him, feeling uneasy.

"Why a council member?" Taige recited. "Why not the URN Court?"

"The URN is being stubborn about it. Just as willful as Beijia at the moment. They've been at odds with each other for months. We need a fresh perspective for them. We'll be able to handle negotiations better since we have no direct peeves with them.

"We've been considering who would best fit for this, however, it's been a tough decision. Karcsi is too busy with Republic City _and_ URN problems under his belt, I have some… personal afflictions with Beijia in the past, and you, Cecilia are too blunt and argumentative for negotiations."

"I am _not!_" Cecilia baffled, offended.

"I believe you just proved my point." Anno gave an experimental smile. Cecilia glared at him wordlessly for the remainder of their short discussion. "I believe you know who's left." Annovi looked at Nilak, refining a more confident smile.

Nilak grinned at the head councilman with a silent fit of laughter. Though the man's face only straightened out from his clear reaction. '_You're serious?!'_

"Nilak—er—is possibly the worst person for the job, sir," Taige admitted, not finding any way to soften her words.

"How would he even be taken seriously?" Cecilia asked, peering at Anno with an expression appropriate for someone who's lost their mind.

"Karcsi's told me that Beijia's National Assembly has plenty of people who are perfectly fluent in sign language. It'll be just as easy for Nilak as it would be for the rest of us. Can you do this for us, Nilak?"

Nilak felt the several pairs of eyes on him as heavy as if they were trucks. It felt like there was no other option in such a dire situation.

'_All right, I'll do it.'_

* * *

"Avani" 阿瓦尼

Avani had arrived at Ekta more than two weeks ago. It was at least three times the size of her home city and clustered with tourists.

It was easy to see why. Though Kotai was built a lot more for practical living space for average people, the capital was the "souvenir city of Adryan" as Avani would call it. It was made more for exceptional business than affordable residence. This caused living in Ekta to be extremely expensive, even short term. If Avani didn't make it to fourth place, she would go home with less than nothing; she would be in debt for the all the expenses that she had needed to bypass presently to get where she was.

Though she felt confident in her ability now that she made it into the group stage. She was working harder than she had ever put herself up to in Kotai. With school out of the way (as well as other distractions), she could spend twelve to fifteen hours a day training her body for the upcoming matches.

_I'm going to need it. The last match was way too close—and that was just the first round._

Over time, each individual day became blur from the harsh routine. It was putting quite a toll on her mind that only worsened when her scheduled matchup neared to less than a week away. Her body ached even in the morning, when she was just starting conditioning.

All too soon came the day of her matches. Avani woke at three in the morning today so she could still fit her entire workout in the half day that was given to her. She felt nervous, but thankfully, at the top of her game. Her head was clear and her muscles seemed to understand the significance of this day and worked extra hard without as much exhaustion.

The distance to the stadium was far enough that, for the first time in her life, she had to take a taxi to get there. It was on the northern coast of the Mo Ce Sea's river which made the sight of it only that much more magnificent.

The enormous stadium was covered in a perfect circle from the white wall. Several gold patterns of pipes ran through the pure white exterior in a series of sophisticated pipelines. Eventually, they surfaced above the roof in nine huge exhaust pipes that looked much like the ones on trucks. They left an accumulative, thick smoke cloud that slowly went southwards with the wind. Just below them, on the roof themselves was a meter station that extended through the available area. It too was painted a mix of brass and gold.

_This is it. _Avani thought, stretching her neck as she approached the tinted glass doors.

Inside was a crowd-infested lobby. Most of the people were piled up in a sloppy line towards the only opening inside. There were at least five different ticket booths running of the five that were built in the gaping doorway.

A big, red sign hung from the ceiling that read "今晚的比賽：與 " (Tonight's Match: Rouna vs. Bracer). Avani felt a sudden surge of warmth at looking at the sign, before shaking her head, trying to focus. _Where did the letter say I was suppose to go again?_ She rubbed her forehead fervently. _I should've brought it with me…_ She was in a rush after finishing her workout this morning so she couldn't return to her apartment afterwards to grab it.

After looking around the lobby several times as best as she could in the crowd, she saw a small door to the far left corner. "只有人才" said a sign in the middle of the door. _Personnel only… _Avani thought, uncertain. _Maybe…?_

She tried her hand on the doorknob to find no resistance as she turned it.

The crowd's alacrity allayed to a soft buzz with the closing of the metal door. She could hear a distant, occasional drop of water from a loose pipe. In front of her was a long, bright hallway that was far plainer than the rest of the decorative stadium she had noticed thus far. As she was still making up her mind whether to continue down the path or not, a sudden crack of a door to her right blew her thoughts away.

A man dressed in a simple yet fancy suit had come out with a few more men dressed a little more casually. "Rouna?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He had short, curly hair that was as slick as silk.

"Er—yeah." Avani nodded, cautiously.

"Your locker room's down the hall, third door to the right of the circular bend." The leader smiled. For some reason, Avani got the impression that it was merely a mask of his true sinister face. It didn't feel sincere whatsoever.

"Right—thanks." She left the business group to their own discussions, following the instructions she was told of.

"This is _mine!?" _Avani baffled. _Surely someone's pulling my leg._

This locker room had to be twice the size of Kotai's stadium; and that one was occupy at least thirty different people, while this one was built only for one or two redeemers. There was two, closet-sized lockers on each wall as well as a television in the back that was on the channel broadcasting this match. There were two commentators who were currently relaying bracket information and then highlights of games that occurred within the week.

Avani dropped the bag on the solid, marble floor. _I wish I came here a bit earlier!_ It was already 11:45 according to the bottom right of the screen.

"Oh! There you are—er—Rouna is it?" A man exclaimed, behind Avani. She jumped, startled by the intrusion.

"Yeah." Avani answered, sheepishly. _Real smooth…_

"Well your best of three match is at twelve on the nose, so make sure you're ready when that happens. The light in the walkway will shine up a bright green when we want you to go out, got it?" Being in the group stage now meant that everything was a best of three or, if she made it to at least the semifinals, a best of five.

"Will do." She nodded, noticing the small beacon in the opening for the first time.

"All righty, then. Good luck today!" and with that the employee shut the door. His footsteps slowly diminished from the gathering distance.

After rushing a small warm-up period, Avani put on all the gear from her bag and paced around the room until an obnoxious buzzer stung in her ears. She looked towards the opening and, sure enough, the light had flashed on, rotating in a circular direction that mimicked a police strobe light.

Going down the walkway made the muffled rumble of the audience clear up into the familiar roar from Kotai. Though this crowd was blown completely out of proportions. There was no less than six times as much people in the crowd and there was still several sections where more and more tiny figures were pouring in from open doorways neatly organized in the stands.

The surround trench that she began to cross was absurdly long. _Honestly, is this real necessary? _For a moment she looked ahead at the steep, beige wall, with a rising wave of panic. _Where's the steps?_

There was nothing but a flat wall until she was six meters from the base and there, off to the side, was a barred suspension platform. It began to ascend immediately after her two feet were firmly planted on the metal floor.

Avani came back to her usual dome once she got off the platform. The overly congested shouts from all around her steadily muffled out like she was back in the locker room. Her neck turned to iron once she locked her eyes on the figure that knelt on the other side of the enormous ring. A blinding light boiled the new-found sweat on her raven-armored back. The crowd was now nothing but a buzzing wasp, quickly fleeing from earshot.

Slow and placid, she took large breaths in the dead silence. Her heavy heart that was racing before seemed to have fled from her chest, as weightless as air under the intimidating spotlight.

On cue, the jagged buzzer zapped through the near tranquil atmosphere at once. A half second later, the sturdy metal poles drilled the ground faster than her eyes could fathom. The dust from the impact covered her surroundings again. The amount of times she had gone through this in the past week had really dampened the impact that it usually gave.

As she went through her practiced scouting, she progressively started feeling anxious at the lack of knowledge that was received for it. _Where would he have gone? To the outer ring?!_

Though it did not seemed to be the case as she took a rock square into the chest. It was unlike any blow she had taken before. The amount of recoil outweighed the force like Bracer was still _bending _the rock as Rouna unwillingly slid into the sandy back layer of the ring. Only then, could did a switch suddenly turn on in her head and she crushed the thirty centimeter squared bolder into pebbles in her two, thick hands. She dug her short, stubby fingers into the ground in desperation for recovery. Even with her efforts, Rouna's back ankle kissed the unmistakable steel edge of the arena.

_ How did he do that?_ She thought, awestruck. Never had she met anyone who could keep a hold on the rock they earthbent while still gathering momentum. It wasn't the only unwelcomed surprise Bracer had up his sleeve. When she looked back up, Rouna saw a small fort of roughly bent poles that encased the center ring as well as her foe.

_ That's a dirty trick._ She smiled mischievously. _That makes things fair game, I think!_

Avani sprinted through the outer zone and met the bombardment that Bracer promptly started with little problem once in the middle ring. He wasn't going to catch Avani off guard again in this round.

Bracer made two wild, simultaneous slices with his hands. Rouna spun her head around, stopping herself in her tracks. No less than ten peaks of each metal tube had broken off and shot at her like bullets. Without hesitation, she tumbled off to the side, narrowly avoiding the worst of the projectiles. The cloud of grime that coughed up from the area swiftly engulfed her person, allowing for several seconds of recoil to re-establish her bearings.

For the first time in the match, she exited the thick shroud on the offensive. Avani made several horizontal slices parallel to her breasts as she sprinted sideways. Several thin, yet deadly disks chipped off the ground and went at her enemy. The steel, pole forts withstood the initial burst of attacks, however, they had bought her the time to wind up a far more powerful punch with breaking off the nearest two poles at the base and throwing them like javelins.

The first of the two had put a major dent into Bracer's defenses, only worthwhile since the second way came in for the final blow. The man was compelled to forsake his shelter. Not a moment too soon had he jumped into the air, jumping on top of the second pole that Avani had thrown and erupted into another fury of attacks, midair.

Avani used her forearm to erect a wall from the brittle stone. It survived maybe two boulders before giving way. The two second delay was all Rouna needed to build a second, thicker layer that still had cracked a few lines across the shield, dangerously close to —

_ Clink._

The noise frightened Avani more than she would ever care to admit later. It was a very subtle, almost negligible sound if it were not behind her, where her open back was left unguarded.

_Wha—?_ She turned, losing all concentration in that one moment. A pole had crunched together much like an empty can.

The wall, she left unattended once she turned away immediately blasted forward in her millisecond of weakness. The force sent her propelling in the air at least three meters, completely delirious. The last thing she could remember was her falling into the engulfing abyss.

Avani opened her heavy lids with eyes completely unfocused. A swarm of people had surrounded her, all doing one thing or another. For a several minutes, she laid there, covered in a rubble of the wall of her own creating, in a sort of dreamed state. Then when someone managed to move one of the bigger pieces of rock that was crushing her leg, her body jump started alongside her mind. A white-hot pain escaped down her entire shin, once it was given air to breath.

"Wha—wait." Rouna gurgled, shaken from the experience. "No… I need to go—I need to get back out there!" She shot herself up as fast as she could manage. It was a stupid move that she regretted quickly with a wave of anguish that screamed from her, mangled leg. It stopped her rash mind as she wildly looked at her right leg. The thick, shiny armor had dented inwards and she could feel the hot moist liquid that was unmistakably her blood streaming down the leg. Even to the unpracticed eye like hers, it was more than obvious her leg was broken.

She pivoted herself forward, regardless, pushing many aghast people to the side. Only a few steps could she go before she had planted the side of her body against the metal outlining of the ring.

A sturdy hand stopped her limping progress. A man with black, curly hair looked at her with brown eyes full of pity. "Please don't do this. It won't accomplish anything; you've already lost." He was tall and skinny, wore spectacles over his brown eyes. It was a futile attempt, however sincere. He only put fuel in her already raging fire.

"Get your hands off ME!" Avani shoved the slender man to ground with all her weight behind it. _No… I still can come back—I still have a chance! This a best of three if I can just get to the stupid square…_

The suspension platform itself seemed to hesitate with her current state but it soon obeyed her wishes and sent her up to the ring for round two.

With the growing pain that hindered her body, everything extended twice as long as usual. She swayed, dangerously with an audible grimace before the buzzer had finally gone off once more and new poles had fallen from the ceiling. The entire arena had no doubt been cleaned during her time knocked out. The shroud that concealed her from the rest of the crowd seemed to weigh her entire body down. Avani put both her hands against one of the poles, trying her best to regain her strength and balance. _I just need to knock him off—and then I can rest. Don't throw away months of training because of a simple wound!_

Rouna pressed on again, as best as her legs could manage. Another dangerous rocking tested her endurance. Her head shook almost to the point of blinding pain overcame her for another brief episode.

_No…_ Avani gripped another pole to her left and crushed it in seconds as she tried to keep herself from falling. _No…. "AHHH!" _Avani shrieked after accidentally putting weight on her left leg again. It made her entire lower body go numb. Neither her nor Rouna could move the lifeless limb anymore.

Clenched beyond the breaking point, the pole made a painful shrill and split into two. Avani collapsed to the ground with the pole, watching as the dust faded and the crowd made deafening noise of outrage as they saw the pitiful Rouna, fractured helplessly on the arena—weak as glass.

_No…_


	8. The Trail of Tears

Chapter 8:

The Trail of Tears

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

The two Kintaro brothers spent the night at the far eastern hotel in Omashu known as Peking Shi. Eria and Kyong had moved on back towards Kotai only once Keito's car was towed back to the nearest lot. They insisted on paying for a full tank of gas before Keito admitted that he was planning on selling the car in Omashu, regardless. There selfless generosity only made the sickening feeling of shame grow by the passing day they spent gathering some extra supplies in preparation for another long trip.

"So—uh—where are we going now?" Reia asked with the utmost caution. The last time he had dared this question he was put through an extensive guilt trip.

"Since we had some time to recuperate without the thought of Dad being forthwith on our tails, I was thinking we should take one last stop at Seedy Merchant's pier up north. There's a train station ten minutes in walking distance we should take."

"Wait, I thought you said the plan was to avoid direct contact?" Reiatsu questioned.

"Ugh—you want me to say it?" Keito barked at his younger brother. "Fine! You were right; I was wrong. Our best chance of being unnoticed is by keeping our heads down and blending into the crowd. If we end up in another dire situation like two days ago, we'll at least be able to act for ourselves rather than be left to the mercy of chance."

Reia nodded, relieved by this notion.

"Since we are going at things from another angle, I figured it'd be best if you start using these." Keito dug into his bag before tossing a small, white box into Reia's lap.

"Contact lenses?" he asked, bemused.

"_Colored _contact lenses," Keito corrected. "I also think you should dye your hair. Then we shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"Absolutely not." Reia said, now looking at the box as if learning its content was dirt from the ground.

"Reia—"

"No! I'm willing to do a lot of things… but _this?!_" he argued, repulsed. "Do you just want me to abdicate my entire life altogether? I'm sorry Keito, this is crossing the line."

"For the spirits' sake, Reia, it's only your appearance! You above all people should know how easy it is to spot you amongst a crowd." Keito sighed, weary. "What's the big deal about it anyway? I thought this would be the easiest transition for you! I mean, you won't even notice for yourself the difference!"

"This—my hair and eyes—this is the last thing I have left to share with Murasaki…" Reia cursed under his breath, noticing his eyes were watering against his wim. "I—I'm sorry Keito. I know it's pathetic, and I know you must take me for a complete weakling, but I—but I can't do it!"

Keito casted a sorrowful gaze at his brother. "From the several days I've spent in this endeavor, I've learned you're a blatant wise guy with little to no patience, and you're certainly a lot of other things Reia, but you are not weak." Initially, Reia had mistaken it for pity but when his brother's face broke into an amiable smile, it clearly revealed his misjudgment. "With this, I think it's quite the contrary. The weak do not stand up for what they believe in and fight for it, especially when it makes them look like a fool in the eyes of others.

"Though you're stubbornness is a real pain in my neck! If you won't change your appearance, then how will we hide in plain daylight? I—I just don't see a way around it, Reia." Keito looked away at the window of their cramped, two-bed room.

"Well I only have to hide my face in Adryan, right?" Reia answered, slowly. "I mean—as distinct as my features may be, no one would care to know that that makes me the avatar. Zeke wouldn't want other countries to find me would he?"

"Of course not!" Keito exclaimed. "Reia, you're right! If he couldn't contain you in Adryan, he would want you to be just as invisible as we want to be! The Avatar under the control of the URN or Beijia would be cataclysmic for the morale of the military; even if you personally did nothing to help with the other Earth Kingdoms. The war would be as good as lost if that were to happen—nothing could salvaged, even by the king!"

He was suddenly animate with new-found excitement, pacing around the room with another branch of thoughts growing from Reia's stem. "Ok—okay so we have to leave Adryan, that's plain enough," Keito stopped, looking at his brother for a brief period. "but where to, specifically? Do we still head north to seedy merchant's pier?"

"Hm…" Reia considered, glancing out the window, at the vacant lot. "I would say yes, we should get through there and into the Fire Nation. Maybe one of Murasaki's sibling could take us in!" He suddenly felt anxious excitement at the thought. _I always wanted to visit the Fire Nation!_

"No." Keito frowned, crushing Reia's happiness with his flat tone. "We can't risk that. If we were to openly stay in the royal house of the Fire Nation than it could cause another branch of conflicts in this war. We shouldn't go to the Fire Nation in general now that I think about it. Since they are neutral with Adryan, it wouldn't be out of father's grasp to send a few troops into the nation to look for us.

"No, we need a different place. Somewhere where he couldn't do anything if we were discovered. We should go to the URN!" Keito finished, somehow satisfied with this insane decision.

Reia stared at his brother in disbelief. _You're joking… Right? Right?! _Keito couldn't possible be content with such an idiotic decision. Though as the silence lingered on, it made Reiatsu finally grasp words to retort.

"So in order to avoid fighting, you want to go headfirst into a hostile nation? Makes perfect sense to me," Reia scoffed.

"No, we aren't going in 'headfirst'… It's called immigrating!" Keito said, exasperated.

_Great! Now we can break international laws as well! _Reiatsu uttered a hushed sigh. "And how exactly would we sneak into a bordered up country? Isn't the URN's southern border heavily restricting immigration because of the war?"

"More than that—they've completely cut off immigration through the south," Keito corrected. "It's a contested war zone, Reia," he added, noticing his brother's shock. "That doesn't matter though, nothing but barricades are placed there to intimidate each other. The Mo Ce Stream is too narrow for anything practical to break out so don't worry."

"Don't worry?" Reia baffled. "Keito, this is madness! How do you expect us to go through a—a _war zone_ and make it to the other side completely undetected?"

Keito failed to respond for several moments. He thought aloud, incoherently, on the question for a while. Reiatsu attempted to keep up with the quick, fragmented mumbling, but soon found he had given up altogether. He laid on the bed, looking at the ceiling until Keito decided to rejoin the land of the living. . "We won't go through the war zone," his brother started slowly, "we'll go under it."

"Under it?" Reia asked. He pushed himself up to a sitting position on the mattress, completely lost. "Okay, now you just sound crazy."

"I'll bend a tunnel underground, below the river." Keito explained.

"And how exactly would you keep track of when we could go up?" Reia frowned, unconvinced. "There isn't exactly a 'Welcome to the United Republic of Nations' sign that greets us a hundred kilometers underground once we've passed the sea."

"We'll have to rely on my seismic sense," Keito concluded, abruptly.

"Keito, water causes seismic distortion… We'll still be taking a huge gamble," Reiatsu spoke quietly. "If you mistake the distorted figure for more rock and strike water whatsoever—"

"We're dead, I know that." Keito tensed his the muscles in his face. "But I wager our chances are much better at this than any other futile attempt at leaving Adryan. I doubt Father doesn't have every dock in the kingdom under surveillance by now."

As much as Reiatsu hated to admit it, Keito was right. They didn't have anyone to go to fabricate a fraudulent passport, and the odds of being able to hide within Kotai were even less than Keito's desperate plan. To Reia's dismay, there were no other options to consider.

"I do hope you know what you're doing," he let out gauntly. "Drowning is by _far_ the last way I want to die."

"That's the spirit." Keito jested with a soft sigh.

After exiting Peking Shi, the entire journey, overall, took about three and a half hours. Reia kept his eyes to the floor and his mouth shut once they were in public. He had fastened a green, thin cloak that covered pretty much all his skin but a thin crevice in the center of his narrow face. Keito had bought the cloak intentionally two sizes larger than necessary for this reason during his shopping spree in Omashu.

Through the entire two hour train ride, Reia felt more self-conscious sitting scrunched between Keito and an old, plump woman than he all the combined anxiety he felt in the public of Kotai. _I fled home completely innocent—what am I now as I leave Adryan?_

His wandering eyes glanced at his brother who was in a peaceful doze. _Did you sleep at all last night?_ Reia had stayed up as long as he could, waiting for Keito to come back from his several hours of errands. He had passed out around midnight still without any sign of Keito. By the next morning he had sold the car as well as bought an assortment of things.

_It's astonishing…_ Reia considered, studying Keito's serene face under new light. _Now that I think of it, I've never seen him so loose—so placidly at ease before, and it was because of all this mayhem and distress that let me see this softer side of him._

Reia felt a pang of guilt clench his stomach seeing his brother drooped down in relaxation. _I bet he's in a much better place in his head than where he'll wake up to, with me—no—__**because**_ _of me._

He stared back down at the floor of the car for the rest of the trip, not looking up until Keito had woken from the scuffle and tapped his shoulder lightly to get up after the general mass of the passengers had already gotten off.

"You can act normal now, you know?" Keito said after several minutes of walking. "No one will notice as long as your hoods still up—the train was just particularly crowded was all."

"Oh—okay." Reia snapped out of his gloomy haze. He straightened his head to see the beautiful plaza of Seedy Merchant's pier. The floor was a shining, creamy assortment of bricks with a few patches of crimson blocks organized in a neat pattern that portrayed a blank, khaki disk of earth that had a large, square hole in the center; it was the emblem of the Earthen Empire.

"Are you all right?" Keito asked, lowering his head to eye level of his brother.

"Er—yeah, I'm fine, thanks," Reiatsu uttered, massaging his upper jawbone out of impulse. For a moment, he thought his lagging mind was caused by the long travel; however, after staring into the murky, dark blue sky for a couple moments, he could tell that wasn't it. "This might sound crazy, but I—uh—I think I can _feel _someone's presence in this pier."

"What do you mean—like a sixth sense?" Keito dropped his tone, casting a far more wary gaze around the moving crowd that surrounded them. "Well? Is—is he following us? Can you tell?" He made a subtle stretch of his arms, ready to strike at the drop of a hat.

"No—I wouldn't say it's like that," Reiatsu said, squinting his eyes in concentration.

"_**Reia—your eyes**__,_" a strange, polyphonic voice emitted to his right with a strained calm composure. Keito's back suddenly blocked Reia's view of the ongoing crowd in front of him.

It was the strangest sensation of Reia's life; everything felt dreamlike and slightly slowed down, as if he was watching a slideshow of his own experience; however all the motion lagged behind in a strange mist not unlike that of what a scent would look like if it could be seen. The strange and uncontrolled episode only lasted for as long as three seconds, but with the amount of detail that filled Avatar Reiatsu's head, it felt much more like a greater half of a day.

"_**Reia? Reia? Ar**__**e**_ you all right?" His brother's voice slowly etched through the dream-like hearing. Reia fell to his knees, breathing deeply. "Don't do that—at least not out here!" Keito whispered, vehemently, grabbing Reia's shoulder and supporting him back up to his feet.

"I—what?"

"Your red marks! They were glowing along with your eyes!" Keito fussed. "Someone could've seen if I didn't cover you up! Someone still might've seen regardless for all I know!"

"_I_ didn't do it!" Reia hissed back at him. "It just sorta happened; I don't know how to explain it, but that's not important right now! There's an airbender near us. I can—I can feel it."

"An—an _airbender?!_" Keito led him out into a small alley, completely cut off from any potential wandering eyes. "How do you know? What did you do?!" He demanded, clutching Reia's small, thin shoulders, stiffly holding him up against the wall.

"I didn't 'do' anything. I thought I already told you that!"

"Fine. So where is this airbender?" Keito exclaimed with a new-found excitement. "Just think of how much easier things would be if he joined us!"

"I'm—I'm trying. Give me a minute." Though the sensation Reia so desperately tried to cling on to and resurrect was slowly deteriorating to his dismay. _No! Where are you?!_

It felt like the entire relapse was nothing more than memory when a flash of green, uncut grass grasped at a mossy, stone walkway entered his mind for a fraction of a second before he was brought back to Keito looking at him, intently against a small building. "Whoever it is, they are off to the side of the pier. I think it was further up north."

Without wasting another second, Keito grabbed Reia's hand and lurched him back into the crowd, walking as fast as he could in the body of people. They went further inside the market before Reia resisted Keito's bone-crushing leash. "No! This way!" He insisted, veering away from the crowd and off towards the far right. _There! Those are the same mountains! She can't be too—_

A small figure was kneeling on the ground, cloaked in a dark brown cloak much like Reia's green. As they came towards the bundled figure, they noticed it was sobbing. The sounds of the sobs made it plain and clear: this was a young girl.

"_Dad—daddy?_" she quivered, hearing the intruding footsteps. She turned around, slowly, before screaming, noticing her error. As fast as lightning, the small girl grabbed a wooden staff that Reia had failed to notice until just now. However, her heels had only parted the ground for a millisecond before a cone of earth wrapped her to the ground in a prison. Reiatsu looked towards his side to see that Keito had cut off her escape with far superior reflexes than his own.

"So you're the airbender?" Keito asked, slightly put off. "What's your name, kid?"

"Aer—Aerika." The girl trembled with gold eyes that shined with nothing short of pure terror. Her hood had fallen back down to her shoulder from the sudden movement to reveal a mat of messy, brown hair.

"What are you doing, brother? She's just a young girl! Let her go!" Reia suddenly snapping out of his daze, mortified.

"Do you know how rare it is to just come across an _airbender?_ I can't just let your only opportunity to learn airbending fly away."

"I will not have her teach me as a slave! Please… Keito…" He pleaded.

Keito stared at Aerika with a blank face of stone for a long pause. It ended with a sigh and, to Reia's relief, Keito gave in. He stomped the floor and the cage of earth sank back into the ground.

"Er—sorry about that…" Reia said, scratching the back of his head. "I'm Reiatsu and I'm the Avatar so he—_wait!_ _Don't go!_" But it was too late, the mysterious young airbender flew off in the blink of an eye. The staff she was carrying had retractable pieces completely foreign to Reiatsu. It was like several small red sails were attached to the staff.

Reia's face heated up, feeling Keito's piercing glare burn right through him. His brother didn't speak to him for the rest of the day.

* * *

"Ryung Jae" ईबहलु ऱोा

Sweat trickled down the side of Ryung Jae's forehead as he stood amongst a the travelers of Seedy Merchant's Pier, exposed. It was the first time he had been around anyone except Ecko and his three children during the whole trip south, after _**it**_ happened. He unconsciously shook his head, unwilling to bring the memory back to the surface. To Ryung's surprise it was far more arduous to do nothing—to allow his mind to wander—than it was for him to fly vigorously for three days straight after Yuna had—_No, I can't afford to think about it… I need to keep my head straight and get to the Southern Air Temple as soon as Ecko has rested enough._

He hid his arrows with a plain, leather hat and a brown trenchcoat that hung down to his ankles. It was lucky for him that it was in the coldest month of April so far, with a terrible storm that stopped and started whenever it pleased, otherwise his outfit would certainly attract a few suspicious eyes.

"Hiroshi, Kimahri, come now! We need to get back to mommy!" the man in front of him called to his two children who were skipping around the longer legs of bystanders. Their carefree nature eased the tension Ryung felt in his every muscle.

The counter opened up to him and he automatically walked up to meet it, feeling significantly better about keeping moving.

"Good day, sir!" The merchant said, beaming. "What can I do you for today?"

"Yes, can I have a whole bag's worth of—hm let's see—tomato, pepper, and basil seeds? Also, if you have any onion plants, I'd gladly take them off your hands," Ryung said, scanning through the window as he ordered. _It's not much, but I think it'll do for now. I sure hope the wild garden is still strong on the island…_

Ryung had visited the Southern Air Temple annually many years back. However, the tradition cut off after Jinora had passed away. It was the only other place in the world he had been when out of Republic City.

"That's a small load to be trading," the man remarked, swiftly filling an individual bag with each of the various seeds. "where you trading it off to?"

"I'm planting a farm in—just outside Ekta," Ryung lied. It was the only place that he honestly knew of in Adryan.

The merchant grimaced. "Ah, Ekta is not a friendly city for the up-and-coming businesses." It sounded like he was talking from personal experience. "But fear not, for there's always room for the talented! Here you are, then! Good luck, my friend!"

It wasn't long before Ryung had managed his way back into the crooked room he was given during the worst of the storm last night. It took a lot of convincing for him to even take a stop, but the cold had become too dangerous to ignore. The risk was negligible in this crowded pier when compared to the peril of hypothermia.

"Are you three up?" Ryung called as he closed the wooden door. It creaked on it's way back to the it's place in the doorway.

Lavanya yawned, tangling her already bedraggled sheets into an even worse knot. "This isn't fair!" She grumbled. "It's only been a few hours!" She stuffed her head in the ragged pillow, covering her entire body into a cocoon. "I'm going back to sleep…"

"I'm sorry, Lavanya. We need to get going soon—bright and early. As soon as we get the temple you can sleep in," Ryung insisted, grabbing all the scattered clothes that were scattered on the floor and folding them sloppily in his rush. They still felt clammy from yesterday's fiasco, but Ryung had missed his chance to dry them out in the air while they slept. _I don't even remember hitting the bed last night I was so exhausted._

"Dad, come _on!_" his daughter complained, now completely hidden under the beige covers.

"Lavanya! I'm serious!" Ryung said with astringent impatience. "Get changed! We need to get going as soon as possible!"

"Why are you being so mean?!" Lavanya cried back, sullen. She broke free from the covers, keeping her eyes burning at her father as if he was the most evil thing she ever set eyes upon. "Where's mommy, anyway—why are we leaving without her?"

"I—" Ryung caught something in his throat. _Yuna…This is all my fault… _"Look, sweetheart," he tried again, "Mommy's….busy. We're—er—_moving _from Republic City. You always say that the Island was boring. She'll—she'll join us soon." He turned away, unable to take his daughter's beautiful face any longer. He was on the verge of tears by the end of his explanation. _How long before I have to come clean about it?_

"Wait a minute," Ryung froze. He surveyed the rest of the room, only seeing Kalden sleeping quietly on the one side of his own tidy bed and Lavanya, who was laying on the floor, fully clothed. "Where's Aerika? Did she—did she go outside?!" He flustered, abashed.

"I dunno," his daughter murmured.

Despite it being obvious that she wasn't here, Ryung Jae continued to search frantically in the most obscure places. His heart and breath were taxing his chest of all the small pool of energy he had restored in the couple hours of sleep he had throughout the last three days.

"_Gah!_" He finally submitted after the redundant search. Aerika had gone off all on her own during the night. Best case scenario: she had wandered off to the wilderness, where no one could notice her. _Worst…?_

Ryung shuddered, turning his head towards the alarmed face of Lavanya. _There's no other way…Time is against me…_ He decided, grimly. "I want you to listen to me _very carefully_." he stressed to his daughter. "Ecko is right on the edge of the forest up North. It's literally right up the road that faces out from the doorway—over there." He pointed through the window pane of the door. "I need you to follow that trail until you arrive back to the place that she's at. Do you remember where that is?"

Lavanya's neck was so strained that she could only muster a stiff nod.

"Stay to the side of the road, even if no cars are coming and do _not_ talk to any strangers! Also, hold Kalden _Very. Gently. _Do you understand? I want you to keep a hold of him until I come back with your sister, okay? Get Kalden and yourself on Ecko's back and do not leave it under any circumstance. You'll be safer on her back than anywhere else in the world, Lavanya. Can you do that for me?"

"I—I think so." Lavanya shriveled from her father's severe tone.

"Good. I'm counting on you to do _exactly _what I said. Above all, be careful." _Why am I allowing a seven year old to do something like this on her own? This may be even worse of an idea than bringing her further into the pier._

In the end, he had drawn the simple conclusion that he just needed to find Aerika as soon as possible. If he found her quick enough, his other children couldn't possibly get into too much trouble. It was a simple enough plan and sound, but it was nothing but luck could allow it to work. _And I haven't had luck with me so far…_

He decided it was best to look through the populous area first. Aerika would be in the greatest peril in the congested roads. If she was out in the woods, Ryung would have more to fear of her starving or being killed by some wildlife she came across if she wandered deep enough into the forest. Both of those things took a lot more time than exposure from her behavior.

A part of him hoped he would find his daughter in the dense market, but another fought audaciously against the hope. Not finding her in _these_ areas was arguably a better scenario than locating her. She could be kidnapped or—_or even worse…_

To further rouse his ambivalence, there was no sign of her in the main plaza, the West market, or the East market. "Great… where next?" _What if I missed her? I can't be very thorough if I haven't ask anyone. Is it too risky?!_

Ryung never made up his mind, for a large, demented bird caught his heavy eyes with an interest that was even unclear to himself. After watching it for several, uninterrupted moments, the bird grew bigger and bigger as it neared towards the ground. Details unveiled themselves as it descended. Ryung gasped, horror-struck. There were thin, red sails behind the figure that now was clearly not a bird. _No—it can't be!_

"DADDY!" Aerika cried out before she landed right in front of him with a large gust of wind behind her. Her face was a total mess and her face shined with the tears that ran down her face.  
"AERIKA, NO!" Ryung shouted, dismayed. She was not listening, however. At the sight of Ryung, she had become reckless and ran straight into his waist, squeezing the lower ribs that her short, frail hands could reach.

"_That girl right there—she's an airbender!_" a woman shrieked, cowering under her hands as she fell plummeted to the floor, trembling violently. A second's pause filled with confusion lingered in Ryung's mind as he and his daughter broke apart. _No, don't do this…_ he thought, desperately. _She's only ten, can't you all see that?_

He couldn't speak his mind, however. Whether out of fear, shock, or even malice, he couldn't say—the words just kept in his throat.

A roar of flames that came from the crowd broke Ryung to action and he formed an adept air shield in the blink of an eye.

"_The man! He's an airbender, too!_" a different voice roared. It was unmistakably a grown man's voice, and by the sounds of it, a stout one at that. _Ecko, I need you. _Ryung pleaded, hoping against all hope, his bison could hear him in his distress.

Seeing another wave of fire, now backed up with countless boulders, come from the "brave" men who stood up against them, Ryung grabbed his daughter's staff out of her hands with superb agility. He put his own body completely in front of Aerika and slashed away at each projectile that met him face-to-face.

"Follow me!" he said after the barrage had caused a dust cloud large enough to give the pair of them some cover. He grabbed Aerika's shaking hand and led her down the closest alley he could find. He ran as fast as he could while still keeping hold of his daughter.

A man had landed right in front of them, stopping the two airbenders in their tracks. Ryung no longer held back. With a pulse of his hand, he blasted a abridged gust of wind straight into the man's torso. He was repelled approximately six meters and collapsed into wooden crates. They snapped from the impact with a croak and spit the wine that was inside all across the grey pavement.

He continued to sprint from the raging crowd behind him. Aerika was being half-dragged as they went. She had skipped several steps, trying to get back on her feet. Ryung Jae, however, was too nervous to slow down. He couldn't even face her at the moment, he was too frightened by the angry mob that chased after them.

Ryung swiped feverishly at a few of the outdoor stalls of foods, pottery, and other unknown stores that he past down the streets. As intended, it made a huge mess of that temporarily distracted the wiser pursuers while the more foolish continued through it, slipping on the scattered items and falling onto the ground.

Ryung Jae's heart leapt at the most beautiful sound he could've heard at this point in time: the triumphant, yet ruffled roar of a flying bison. He cocked his head in the sky, glossing over the sight, but nothing but the dark-blue and grey clouds hung above him. There was no great white beast within his sight.

"HEY! _You!_" several guards bellowed in front of him, hurrying down to meet him. He stopped, abruptly, and turned to the other side. The mass of people were still on his tail. There were no more cheap tricks or alleys that he could make his escape in. _Great…now what?_ He was cornered.

Another thunderous growl resonated. It was now right above his head and, sure enough, there was the wonderful white beast, circling just above him. He pushed the trigger on the staff and the maroon sails shot out instantaneously.

"AERIKA! GRAB MY WAIST" Ryung hollered. He felt Aerika clasp onto his lower ribs after some difficulty jumping high enough on his back. He shot up into the air just as the guards desperately shot out cables in their general direction. Thankfully, the soldiers were still too far away for any effective attempts at apprehending the slippery airbenders.

After a few moments of a gushed breeze, Ryung landed lightly onto the bison's back. "_Ecko! Yip-Yip!_" The wind picked up again and the people down below were blocked by the surrounding buildings. They soon saw the pier itself slowly fade into the void of the horizon. Somehow, they had managed to escape everything, unscathed.

"Aerika! Are you all right? Are you hurt?" Ryung Jae called through the howling wind, studying his daughter's frightened face for the first time.

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" she sobbed, hugging the edges of his broad back. "I—I didn't mean for this to—"

"It's okay. It's okay, Aerika." Ryung appeased her with a soothing stroke of her hair. Her voice allayed all the worries he had bottled up inside of him. "Everything is going to be all right." His eyes lingered around to see Lavanya and Kalden sitting scrunched up against one another in a small blanket. Lavanya had a drowsy, though relieved expression, but Kalden had miraculously fallen asleep through the mayhem that had unfolded underneath him.

Ryung exhaled a tense breath as he held Aerika's tiny body in his shaking arms.

Tears swelled in his eyes and dripped down his cheek, then fell to Aerika's fragile back, continuing their path until they met Ryung's spread fingers.

Many hours they all laid in Ecko's saddle, scrunched up together in the wide stretch of her back. Ryung could feel his two daughters' steady, tranquil breathing against his body as they leaned their heads on his chest and shoulder. He grimaced. _I'm a terrible father__._ _How could I ever subject my children to something like this? I'm so sorry, Yuna._

For the first time through their entire journey he felt confident enough to think of his wife again—even if it was out of shame. He looked out into the oncoming view for the hundredth time that day to see the faint shadow of a white temple with a subtle, blue roof. It was the nostalgic temple that Ryung had left as a child all those years ago…

_If only Yuna could've seen this. _She was always fascinated by ancient artifacts. _Something as magnificent as this would've given her a field day. _The sentiment replaced his grief with pure rage. _This is all Charisma's fault. _Ryung scowled at the failing sun, sinking below the horizon. _One day I'll find her again—and this time, I won't hesitate. I'll kill her for what she's done to my family._

* * *

"Nilak" 尼罗河

"We're taking _that?!_" Taige's jaw dropped at the sight before her eyes.

The "boat" Nilak and her were leaving on easily had the bulk of an ocean liner. It was primarily covered in a greyish black that was outlined with both railings and rivets of navy blue.

"Yes," Karcsi carved an eerie grin at the pair of them. There was something about the councilman that set Nilak on edge. _I'm being so prejudice; why must I be so rude behind his back?_

"Oho! There's my two favorite people in the whole wide world!" Annovi exclaimed behind them. They all turned around at the same time to see him exiting an extravagant, silver convertible. He closed the door and quickly walked up to meet them.

"'Two favorite people in the world'?" Karcsi said mockingly in his habitual monotone. "You are a true breaker of hearts, Anno."

Anno chuckled as he was hugging Taige. "Oh Karcsi, you never cease to surprise me with what words come from your mouth!" He extended a rough hand onto one of Karcsi's bony shoulder blades and pulled him closer to the hug.

Karcsi seemed lost in this partial three-man group hug and he kept as much distance as Annovi's thick, tan arms would allow. "You should really loosen up, my friend!" Anno patted his back amicably.

There was no reply. Karcsi kept his body tense and awkwardly loose during the entire ordeal. The head councilman seemed to notice his efforts were in vain and decided to ignore the foreign behavior.

"Why exactly are we taking such an excessively large ship? Isn't it just me and Nilak that are going?" Taige asked, still in awe of the towering vessel.

"It's a war ship—Oh don't worry, though!" Anno reassured, noticing the pair's identical faces of pure terror. "It's just a scouting ship of the Northern Water Tribe. Anyway, it was the quickest and safest ship we could get back to these docks that was neither occupied nor in a scrap yard for repairs or renovation. Er—what is this baby called again, Karcsi?"

"Aurora. Her captain is Ulva Meeres, I believe."

"Aurora!" Anno exclaimed, once again on the balls of his feet. "Oh I do like that name! Now where was I?

"Ah, yes—that's right. Since _Aurora_ is such a hefty ship, it requires a considerable sized crew. There are about two hundred on board, but the ship was to be relocated to Beijia, regardless, so do not fret! You're not being a major nuisance or anything. Quite the contrary! They're—er…"

"The ship was to be relocated to Beijia regardless," Karcsi finished for Anno. "It is quite fortunate that our destinations are so convenient with one another."

"So I guess—" Taige started.

Aurora blew its deafening horn and completely drowned out her voice. The sound matched that of a thousand blaring trombones that filled the otherwise barren docks.

"The ship is embarking in five minutes!" Anno gasped, unable to believe the time his pocket watch displayed. "You guys should get settled in before it sets sail!"

He eagerly half-led, half-shoved them towards gangplank that was completely congested with a mass of people chaotically funneling into the single-filed line of security.

"All righty then," Anno sighed, looking at Nilak and Taige with a slight hint of regret. "_here _are your tickets." He stuffed them into Nilak's hand and took several steps back.

"I'm—well—I'll—I'm gonna miss you guys," he said mournfully. His brown eyes were glistening with the tears that swelled in them. "Take care you two, all right?"

Nilak nodded but Taige was too busy holding back her own tears. He shook both of their hands firmly before leaving them to join the pack of people.

"Nilak, Taige," a soft voice called behind them. Karcsi was coming up to them, to both of their surprise.

"Yes?" Taige said as he approached.

"Be careful out there," he crucially warned them. "We only know what the surface of Beijia's distrust is. They may have far deeper roots than we've anticipated, so keep a watchful eye. I'm hoping it won't come to it, but if things get too dangerous, or if you feel threatened, get out of there. Don't stick your neck out too far for the sake of Republic City. Promise me you'll acknowledge when it's a lost cause and flee immediately."

"I—I promise," Taige stuttered, caught off guard by his somber warning.

'_I promise.' _Nilak motioned with his hands. He knew Karcsi couldn't understand, but it was simple enough for him to guess. The pale councilman grinned almost warmly at Nilak for making the promise for himself.

"Thank you. I hope this doesn't amount to anything, but caution is never a bad exercise. Watch over your backs—as well as one another's." He stared at them for a second before turning around and going off into the crowded roads of Republic City.

After a tedious wait through the disordered line, they had gotten onto the main deck of Aurora with little space to breathe in let alone move around. '_I thought only the crew were on board,_' Nilak motioned, skeptical.

Taige didn't seem to notice his observation, since they were cramped on all sides by the clearly overpopulated main deck. Nilak couldn't really blame her. His hands were forced to press against his chest in an almost concealed manner because of the crowd. It was better that they got below deck and then figured things out.

As if reading his thoughts, she grabbed his hand and led them forward. Nilak's face burned up at her touch, not anticipating her straightforward gesture. They went down the first flight of stairs they encountered during their blind wandering. The noise deadened a great deal once they had descended.

"Are you okay?" Taige asked, concerned. "Your face is really red! Do you feel all right?"

'_Is it?_' Nilak fingered with jittery hands. '_I feel fine._' He smiled in an attempt to hide the anxiety that was pulsing through his entire body. _You're a total idiot…_

"Let me see." His sad excuse for a cover up seemed to fulfill Taige's criteria to his amazement. "Crap, our cabins are in completely different sections…"

'_Really?_' Nilak tried his best not to look disappointed. If there was one thing that he was looking forward to in this trip, it was the amount of time he could spend with Taige. '_How far off?_'

"Well…" She grabbed the map they were given after passing through security. "Yours is A-93 and I'm—er—C-51. Oh well! I guess we can really do anything about that; do you want me to find your room or is it all right if I go straight to mine?"

'_I'm good, thanks. I'll meet you in the A-F dining hall in a couple hours then? Once I've settled in I'd really like to get some lunch._'

"Sure! See you then. Bye, Nilak!" Taige called, waving as she went further into the narrow hallway. She bumped into someone while she was looking away. "Oops! Sorry, sir!"

Nilak took a deep breath, hoping that the worst of this hectic morning was behind him. He flipped open the folded map again and looked at it while holding his ticket in the opposite hand. _Now where do I go?_

He must've overestimated his independability. He had followed the same path that he saw Taige go off to, hoping that he could salvage his mistake, but he only became gradually more lost and confused.

_She must've known where we were; why didn't I ask her when I had the chance?_ _How am I possibly going to get help now? _He embarrassment swell inside him from his pitiful sense of direction. Each hallway was quite familiar if not identical to all the previous ones. He still didn't see a sign or any form of indication that would help him navigate with the map. _What did I expecting? A map on one of these walls complete with a "You are here" sticker? This is a warship not a cruise…_

After almost forty-five minutes of wandering, he knew there was no way he could do this on his own. _Why did I have to be so proud? _Nilak plumped his butt on the fence-like floor. It made a shrill noise from the sudden change of weight. _I'm more hopeless on my own than a small child…_

_I'm going to have to find someone…_ he thought, shameful. _How on earth am I going to explain everything?_ He looked around him, hoping someone would pass by and he could just muster an incredibly lost expression to explain it all. He knew it wouldn't be that simple and surrendered the pity act.

_First door I see, I'll go in. _He got up and continued on straight or at least his straight. There was no real way to tell which direction it corresponded to along the ship. Regardless, it didn't take long before he found a bulkhead hatch to his right and put his entire body's strength into opening the thick, adamant steel. The sight behind it made his chest tighten with remorse and apprehension.

At least twenty people were seated in front of their own monitor, telegraph, radio, conning or even a sonar screen. In the middle of all the tech was a meter in diameter helm. _Great! I found the control room…_

Some of the workers had glanced at him for a moment before returning back to their jobs. Nilak could see from the large window that they were already sailing far off in the ocean. _Er—maybe I'll try the next door…_

"Who are you?" A tall, robust woman walked towards him. Her dark-amber hair was tied back in a tight bun above her tan, pretty face that seemed mismatched with the rest of her body. She had the broadest shoulders Nilak had ever seen on a woman as well as a muscular torso that was outlined with her tight, black thermal shirt. Over the shirt, she had a thick, black, wool coat that covered from her collarbone all the way down to her knees. The fur on the inside had a somewhat mesmerizing blend of every shade of brown Nilak had ever known and more. To top off her bizarre, yet alluring outfit, she wore a general service cap with a small chain that hung down on the side of her face to brush the tip of her shoulder. "Sir, who are you?" She repeated with suspicious, grey eyes.

"Captain, you have a message from Central Command," a worker called from behind.

_Capt—captain?! _Nilak gaped at her as if she transformed into an entirely new person.

"Not now, Xing, can't you see I'm busy?" she called back, without breaking eye contact with Nilak.

He pinched a small layer of skin on the surface of his throat, hoping against all hope that the Captain could take his meaning.

"What's wrong with you; can't you speak?" she asked. Her powerful expression slackened slightly to Nilak's relief. He shook his head vigorously.

"Ah." The Captain opened her mouth. "I see… You're the silent one aren't you? Yeah, Karcsi told me about you and your partner. It's nice to meet you, Councilman, but why exactly have you come to the bridge? Is there something I can do for you?"

He pulled out the pencil in his right pocket and wrote , ironically, on the map. [I'm sorry, I got lost on the ship and accidentally wound up here.]

"That's all right—Aurora can be quite a maze for a foreigner," she said strangely detached. "Bao?"

"Yes, Captain." A young man with a goatee got up from his chair and sat in a seat so grand that it could only be the Captain's chair.

"If you would follow me, Councilman." The woman led the way, not even asking what his ticket info was. Nilak trailed behind, awestruck by her the aura of dominance she so absentmindedly initiated.

"My name's Ulva Meeres, by the way," she said after cutting through a corner. Nilak was astonished by how fast her pace was considering her leisurely manner.

"Captain!"

"Captain—"

"Cap'n…"

They had encountered some of the excessive number of crew members. They all abruptly stopped at the sight of Ulva Meeres and many saluted her as they passed. Nilak ascertained he was fascinated by this mysterious Captain.

"A-93, right?" she asked, looking at him for the first time since they left the bridge.

He nodded after double checking the ticket that was clenched his sweaty hand.

She opened one of the several cabin doors and held the door for Nilak to go ahead. It was a lot nicer than Nilak had anticipated, considering his disastrous experience of the ship so far. There was an enormous window up against most of the wall of the room. Vintage, yet brandished furniture was neatly placed along the hardwood floor. There was even some rugging in the dining room next to a circular carpet in small, handsome kitchen. Admittedly, it was at least three times as large as his own apartment in Republic City and six times as luxurious.

[Thank you very much for your hospitality] he scribbled on the notepad with a grateful bow.

"Don't mention it," Ulva replied, though her face was as stiff as stone. "There are two pairs of keys for your room inside the safe over there; the combination is on your ticket. Enjoy your stay on Aurora, Councilman.'

A sting of guilt arose after she had shut the door on Ulva way out. Nilak wasn't really that comfortable in such an extravagant and excessive living space. It was why he still hadn't left his run-down apartment in Republic City, despite having enough money to easily live in a fairly expensive home. He didn't really care for these kinds about having these kinds of things.

_It's only for a few days… _


	9. Devilry

Chapter 9:

Devilry

"Reiatsu" 金塔罗 蕾亚子

"Are you sure about this?" Reiatsu looked down in the bottomless pit that Keito had spawned into the earth in a fraction of a second. _It's so dark… _he thought glumly.

"Yeah," Keito breathed. "We've got everything we need, right?"

"Let me check for the fifteenth time today." Reia rummaged through the large bag at his feet. "First aid kit, three flashlight, two gallons of water, sleeping bags, batteries, spare clothes, blankets…—er—do we really need the tent now?"

"Well, yeah. We probably will have a long walk to the nearest town we come across in the URN."

"Right…" He sighed. "Well, you first. I don't like long drops—or darkness now that I think about it. Whoever said two negatives make a positive I'd like to slap on the face."

Keito frowned. "You're the Avatar now, Reia, you really need to harden up."

"So what, because I'm the Avatar I can't be afraid of anything?" Reia replied.

"It's not about having no fear, it's about not letting those fears control your actions. Everyone has fears, Reia. Without fear you can't ever be brave."

"Er—no thanks." Reia looked back down at the gaping hole. There was no end in sight and nothing to hold onto on the way down. _The story of my life._ "I rather like being a weakling, it helps with the whole dying factor that bravery doesn't really cover in its insurance."

"You are such a wimp, _sheesh_." Keito casually jumped into the black hole with his own bag and was immediately consumed by the thick darkness. A soft _plop_ echoed off the walls of the crater before his voice called back up. "See? It's not that big of a deal; just let gravity do the magic for you."

"Oh that's reassuring, Keito! Very reassuring…"

"Will you quit complaining and just get your butt down here already, you big baby?" his voice called inside the darkness.

Reia's stomach lurched from the depth of the hole. He snapped his head away from the pit and clenched his mouth shut with a hand over it. The burning sensation slowly declined back down his esophagus. "Keito, I—I don't think I can do this!" His voice was suddenly austere from the anxiety that was taking over his trembling bones. He was as still as a statue. There was a long silence that followed.

"Reia, listen to me, your mind is playing tricks on you," Keito said gently. Reiatsu was expecting another crack of a joke, or some other form of mockery. It was the first time Keito was actually trying to comfort him, that alone made him feel a little better—a little bolder.

"Oh—all right… but if I break any bones I swear to every spirit that exists, I will kill you!"

His legs sprang forward, in a blind faith. He was swallowed by the darkness in a split second. The wind rushed into his face for only about thrice that before he, rather clumsily, hit the bottom of the pit. His abdomen scrunched together with the pain that seared from the horrific landing.

"You were suppose to land on your feet…your back's good too, I guess," Keito stated next to him. With the sun out of view, Reia could only see the silhouette of his brother's body. _It's this dark already?! We don't even have rocks above us, yet!_

"Maybe if I had some light to show me where the bottom actually was," Reiatsu muttered, appeasing his stomach with both his arms as he knelt on the earth. "So we're actually going through with this? There's no turning back now…"

"Not exactly," Keito said. He punched the nearby wall with a stiff, tremendous motion and the walls caved in behind them, rumbling with a sound that drowned out all other sounds. Once the dust had faded, a near-natural looking wall of boulders had cut off their entrance. "_Now_ there's no turning back."  
"Jeez, Keito—were you trying to wake up the Northern Water Tribe with that noise?!" Reia hissed at the darkness that Keito's shadow stood just before the ruckus. He honestly thought it couldn't get any darker than it was before the ruckus—_never have I been so wrong…_

"Calm down, it's not nearly as loud on the surface as it is from underground," Keito's voice emitted behind Reia. He jumped at just how impaired his senses were down in this tunnel.

"Can't we use the flashlights already? I can see more with my eyes shut than open down here!"

"No," he answered, bluntly. "This is a long journey to go under the _entire_ river. There's no reason to burn some of the batteries already. Right now, there's nothing to see but rocks surrounding us from all sides but if we need to do some first aids, or get essentials out of the bag, _then _we will need it.

"Anyway, I already started to branch the tunnel in the right direction before I caved the hole in. So long as I dig deep enough and we stayed under long enough, we will be safely on the other side: in the URN."

_Haha—'safely'—that's a good one, Keito._

The rocks growled towards Reia's left and the earth around him shook treacherously. _What insane notion convinced me to do this? Oh, we're dead—we're so dead… _He made an audible gulp before following his brother further into the dark depths of the hazardous terrain.

His shoulder bumped into what could only be his brother's stationary back.

"Hey! Can't you watch where you're—"

"No."

"Right—sorry. Just keep a hand on your wall, would you? I don't really want to—uh—what are you doing?"

"Holding your hand." Reia said sheepishly.

"Well, I know _that_—"

"Then why bother asking?" He tugged it a little towards him. It was obvious they would be seeing little and hearing less throughout the painfully protracted journey and feeling a cold, rough stone would slowly drive him mad. It seemed Keito had folded as they continued on down the pitch-black passageway in a content silence.

They slowly developed a systematic loop of taking roughly nine meters forward before Keito would temporarily break apart and bend another nine meters of open walkway for them to continue on. As time slowly passed, Keito's steep angle slowly deteriorated until it felt like they weren't descending whatsoever.

"Um—Keito? We need to go deeper."

"Don't worry, we're still some distance from the river, although I can feel it now. I hope it stays that way…"

They managed to just barely pass under what Keito insisted was the water by the end of their first day. _I guess it's not really a day without light. _Without light, time seemed to be very approximate and surreal.

They had decided to call it out once Keito's bending had become sloppy and too narrow for both of them to fit abreast. Reia's legs were killing him with how stiff and aching they had gotten after maybe an hour or so into the dig. He tried his best to keep them together, for he didn't feel like he had a right to complain since Keito's task was twenty times more vigorous than his trivial walk. Despite this, he found that it was very hard not to complain. Complaining inexplicably made things easier to bear and alleviated the pain he struggled with. He felt a faint sense of pride for being able to abstain from it for his brother's sake, though.

They kept the flashlight on only when they were unpacking the essential gear and during the time they ate the pitiful excuse of a meal. Reiatsu took a deep pleasure in being able to see his brother's face again. The darkness that he walked in for countless hours had come awfully close to stealing the memories he had of his family's faces.

Reia wanted to confine with Keito about it—he wanted to admit what was happening in his head when they laid next to each other in the blackness again. It was easy enough to tell that Keito was still awake by his troubled breathing, but Reia abstained from the guilty pleasure. _Let him be…he needs rest. Why can't I be more helpful? This is my doing in the first place._

Out of a mixture of self-pity and self-mourning, Reia soon closed his heavy eyes and found himself cheating this evil tunnel. He watched the first layers of dawn emerge over the horizon. They peaked through the shallow trees that he weightlessly treaded around on all four of his paws. _The—the sun! It's light today is more spectacular than I'd ever witnessed before._

Reia raised his neck and instinctively called with a soft, elegant howl. _Nature really is the essence of all beauty…_

"Reia, get up. We must get moving," Keito mumbled, tapping Reia with his foot.

His eyes opened back to the darkness he had left only for a few, precious seconds. In that time, an entire night had gone by and his body was as rejuvenated as he could hope for down here. They quietly packed the remaining things in their large backpacks before reluctantly turning off the flashlight once again.

It was only when his mind could wander again did Reia notice that his eyes were wet with dream still burning vividly in his mind. _Thank you, Irya. _It gave him a lot more strength and confidence than he had felt ever since they left Kotai.

The next few days were a lot easier for Reia to endure, despite the excruciating repetition of it all. For the first time, he was considering this only as a temporary experience—there were better days on their way.

"So…who's is that one girl you were always talking to at night? I've always wondered…what was her name again? Lien?"

"That's—that's none of your business," Keito gasped after breaking away another segment of their path.

"Oh, come on—don't be so stiff!" Reiatsu cried out. "We're close at least sixty kilometers under the ground with an unfathomable amount of water above our heads; who am I gonna tell?"

"That's not why I'm not telling you," Keito said, "it's because I want to keep my friends to myself. Why can't you understand that?"

"I _do_," Reia insisted. "but I wanted to strike a conversation to keep us busy. It'll keep you focused on the destination. Also, I'm flat-out curious. But seriously, trust me—it makes everything a lot easier."

Keito sighed.

"Fine. Lien's a good friend of mine. We had a lot of classes together and got along well with each other…"

"What did you guys do together?"

"I don't know…we hung out a lot, helped each other through homework, complained about crappy teachers and workloads occasionally—you know, stupid stuff."

"Do you have a crush on her? You sounded like a completely different person on the phone."

Keito paused. "I—I'm not sure." Reia felt the resistance of their locked hands and recoiled back to where his brother stood. "It's just, I've never been in love before, so I didn't exactly have anything to compare it to. I guess I did looking back on it. I wish I had the chance to say goodbye."

Reia's heart plummeted. "I'm—I'm sorry, Keito. This is all my fault…"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," his brother replied. "It's not exactly like you could've done anything about it. There's no reason to blame anyone."

"Even so, I haven't exactly made it easy for you. I've been too selfish to even consider the toll everything has taken on you. I've been such a jerk."  
"Thanks, Reia. It—means a lot," a far gentler voice answered.

A tug on his wrist indicated that Keito had silently started moving again. He took a few wide steps to catch up with him and then adjusted to his brother's walking speed. "I'm also sorry; I shouldn't've treated you the way I did when we were growing up. In fact, if you never became the Avatar, I reckon I'd never would've known anything about you. I was a terrible brother to you. I hope Qinna will be all right with Kenji, at least."

"I was just thinking about that for the first time a couple nights ago while down here," Reia admitted. "If you don't mind me asking why exactly did you hate me before?"

"I wanted to impress Dad." Keito explained. "He always hated weakness and nonbenders. I tried so hard for his approval that I didn't consider for myself if his beliefs were right—if I agreed with them. I guess having a nonbender in his family ended up shattering the household, haha."

Reiatsu didn't know how to respond to his comment.

"I'm sorry, that was…stupid. I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay," Reia reassured him. "It was an honest statement. That's all I ever wanted from you: to be honest."

"Reia…"

He couldn't conjure any words into his head and his brother also didn't usher anything more. The hollow steps of their feet was all that continued in the dark. Keito sighed and returned to wordlessly bend the path ahead of them.

"Did you hear that?" Keito suddenly spoke.

Reia jumped at the sudden noise after such a long period of quiet.

"What do you—"

"_Quiet, Reia!_" Keito shot him down. There was a slow, gentle _drip _every few seconds towards the left. _Is that water?! _Reia thought, aghast.

"Quick, Reia, get the flash lights!"

He didn't need to be told twice. He dropped the bag on the floor and rummaged hastily through its contents, feeling his hand wrap around the cold cylinder.

The light irritated his eyes for several moments as he shone it around all the walls before pinpointing the source of the leak. There was already a tiny puddle below.

"It can't be," Keito whispered with disbelief. "I've been so careful…There's been no sign of water ever since the second day!"

"What's the big deal? Just patch it up and let's move on, before it get's any worse."

"You don't get it, Reia. This means we've been carving too close to the ocean floor, which also means—"

_The ceiling could give way at any moment! _Reiatsu looked at his brother's face, horrified.

"Don't panic!" Keito urged, desperately. "I'll just dig deep and we'll close this bit off from the rest of the path."

He tore a gaping hole into the ground at their feet, but regretted it immediately. A deafening _crack _sounded above them and water sank over them, as heavy as lead. The light died out immediately after being swiped from Reia's hand by the freezing water.

"NO!" He instinctively held his hands up to protect from the tidal wave that had already filled to his kneecaps in the split second of incapacitation. The roar of the running water halted and a strange, blue glow lit up the cave. His arms, which were outstretched in front of him, were emitting a bright, white-blue glow where the navy blue tattoos were. A rush of energy pulsed through his entire body and funneled its way into both of his hands. The water kept still as if from outside forces.

_Am I—am I bending?! How is this possible?!_

"_REIA! HOLD ON!_" Keito shouted as he surfaced from the pool inside his pit. The weight was tremendous, to Reia's dismay. "If you can keep it still for a little bit, I can—"

Reiatsu's arms felt like they had dozens of weights wrapped around them in less than ten seconds and his arms fell too low. The water hit him like an explosion. His body was quickly slammed into the rock wall behind and he was completely submerged within a heartbeat.

Reia clutched his throat, desperately trying to claw out any air his lungs would take. They screamed in protest as he wildly struggled in the tight tank of water. When he was convinced it would never end—when it seemed too much to endure, his brain fogged up and he couldn't think nor feel any longer.

The heavy lids of Reiatsu slowly closed. A faint glimmer of red lights shined through the water just on the corner of his eyes as Reiatsu Kintaro sank to the floor, unconscious.

The deepest breath of air Reia had ever inhaled brought him back to his sense and he found himself on both his knees under a stretch of beautiful, beige sand. The sun, oxygen, vision, everything he had been deprived of so harshly had returned to him. His red tattoos were gleaming as he stared at his surroundings. He laid next to him, body and mind too weak to wonder what had happened. His chest was slowly expanding and contracting with each slow, broad breath. The red glow of Reia's began to diminish now that he knew he was safe—safe with his brother.

_We made it…we're in the URN…_

_This is our final haven…_ His body gave way to exhaustion and passed out even before his head hit the sand on the beach.

* * *

"Avani" 阿瓦尼

"…It's looking like Avani'll be all right. She's getting lots of sleep, dozing in and out of consciousness occasionally, and last time I check, she's running a high fever.

"Don't worry, it may not sound like it, but this is great news, it means her body is healing well. All that it will take now is time and rest. I expect she'll be good to go by the end of the month."

A far more familiar voice pierced her groggy mind. "Thank—thank you, doctor." _Where…am…I? _She turned her stiff neck towards the conversation that went right through her ear.

The bright lights glared down her sensitive eyes within a couple seconds. She rubbed them in irritation of the new-found light. The glass window cleared into its proper place before long to show a lean figure wearing his white coat that stood less than forty centimeters from the white, marble floor. Behind the doctor was a short, blurry body that even Avani's crappy eyes could tell was trembling with apprehension. _At least Reia's here…_

Avani's eyes split open up once again to the bright room. No matter how well it was lit, however, the cold, gloomy walls always filled her with despair. _As if this sickly stench was enough to put up with, how on earth are people supposed to get healthy __**here**__?_

The door clicked with the first noise she honestly understood after however long she had been in this awful place. She could remember the doctor that she had seen not too long ago with—with…

_Mom…_

Her mother's pale, face was cured of it's weariness at the sight of her daughter, wide awake.

"_Avani!_ I'm so glad you're all right! You had your father and I were worried sick when we got the phone call." She wrapped her small, gentle arms around Avani's chest and squeezed tightly.

"I swear, the next person I hear the word 'sick' from I'm going to rip apart, limb-from—"

"What's with all the fuss?" someone called behind the two of them. _Reia?! _Avani thought for a wild moment, feeling light as air for the first time since she left Kotai. But it wasn't him…it was her father, Guiren, carrying a bag that wafted a powerful, fresh smell of beef chow fun. The carefree smile faded from her lips. "Why didn't you tell me Avani was awake?! Sorry I didn't get you anything, Avani, I thought you were still out."

Avani felt a bit ashamed for being so disappointed at seeing her father again. It had been almost a month since she had last seen his fat, wrinkled face, but his arrival had given a painful reminder of how things were now.

"What are you—what are you all doing out here? Don't you two need to work?" Avani backtracked, reprehensive. "Why did you come all the way out here? Buying last-minute train tickets is extremely pricey!"

"Avani!" her mother cried, bemused. "You broke a leg, an arm, and two ribs in the middle of Ekta: where no family is around! You think we could possibly leave you to sit in the Capital all alone to recover from all that?"

"I'm _fine_…" Avani gruffled, embarrassed. She started to sit up but immediately sank back down into the mattress, biting her lips to keep from screaming. She met a cataclysmic wave of burning pain in her ribs. Involuntarily, she brought her hand to the source and ascertained that there was another searing source around her elbow as well. "_Argh!_" She couldn't abstain any longer. _Quit being such a baby! Pull it together, you're making an even bigger fool of yourself!_

"Avani!" Guiren called out, aghast. His face showed every bit of concern which Avani loathed beyond articulation.

"I'll get you some painkillers," the skinny young doctor said before he dug his face in the cabinets off to the side wall. A few moments went by where only the occasional rummaging of the lower cabinet could be heard.

"Aha! here it is…" The doctor re-emerged from behind the open storage door. He had an orange, transparent pill bottle in his hand and was unscrewing it as he walked back to Avani's side. He handed her two white pills with a small glass of water. "You may want to wash it down with some water."

Avani ignored him. She brushed aside the glass of water and threw the two in her mouth. The plain, powdery taste was disgusting in her throat, but she tried to keep the taste out of her thoughts.

"Er—you also need to eat something with it."

"Guiren!" Xia barked at her husband. He was standing aloof from the other three, mouth wide open only a dozen centimeters away from the first bite of his meal. "Don't be so cruel—give her your dish!"

"Muh—_mine?_" Guiren stuttered, adversely. He kept his hungry eyes pinned to the mouthful that was neatly wrapped around his wooden chopsticks. "But dear, I went _twenty blocks_ to get this dinner…and—and twenty more to get back to the hospital! Surely, you don't mean me to—"

"To be a good father? Of course I don't," she finished with a malevolent smile. "I want you to give our daughter: the person who's been in bed for a _week_ something other than the plastic hospital food they serve here. No offense, Uri."

"None taken. It is indeed quite dreadful, I have to admit." The doctor grinned. "But don't tell anyone I said that."

Guiren reluctantly placed his hard-earned meal on the glass bedside next to Avani's head. "I guess we'll talk later tonight, Avani. I'll be back in a bit…" He winced as his hands left the edges of the tin-foil plate and left the room, staring at the floor where he dragged his heavy feet. He sighed on his way out.

Avani extended a trembling arm to the bedside table and picked up the chopsticks. She tried to ignore the two pairs of eyes on her as she scooped up a bit of the food and raised it to her mouth. She glanced up at them for half a second. They both looked at her as if she was kind of wounded puppy abandoned in the rain.

"_Ugh!_ Will you guys cut it out! I can't even eat with your stupid faces! I mean seriously, give me a break!" _Sheesh, is it so much to ask?!_

Xia's lips shook violently at the remark and she quickly averted her eyes.

"I think Avani is just a bit stressed and needs some time alone," Uri interjected, putting a protective arm around Xia's shoulder. He led her out of the doorway with a decrying glare back at Avani before they were out of sight. _Oh come on! You're made of stronger stuff than that! _She felt even more irritated than she had before she had before speaking up.

"_Ow!_" She grimaced. Her ribs tormented her once again and she slumped back down on her mattress and grumpily started to eat her dinner, not at all getting the "peaceful alone time" she had imagined. It took a couple hours for her to be allayed completely, but once she did feel the spark die out, her dense stomach and still muscles made her feel drowsy despite how slothful she felt in this crappy bed.

"Avani…Avani…Avani!"

"Mm, shut up Jakyri!"

"I—What?"

"You'll ruin the moment if you don't—if you don't—uh…" Her senseless rambling faltered once her eyes sprang open to see the doctor her mother had called Uri standing next to her, gently prodding her awake. "Er—nevermind." Her face heated like a fire at noticing what she was saying as well as to whom.

"You have a new visitor. Strange looking fellow to be honest." His voice was genuinely indifferent now. It seemed he had gotten over her resentful behavior.

The sun's light felt like a warm blanket that distracted her other thoughts. It was bright…_very _bright. Avani gasped.

"What time is it?!" she asked, leaning towards the window.

"About 13:30, I believe."

She looked at him, horrified. "I've been asleep for _fifteen hours?!_" In the corner of her eyes, she saw the visitor peaking tentatively through the door. "_You!_" She snarled with as much venom as her wounded muscles could exert. She snapped her arms inward and the borders of the glass panes around the massive man curled inward. The entire wall of glass around him shattered in a blink of an eye. The metal sash wrapped around his entire body in an instant and a jagged piece that had snapped hovered menacingly at his throat. Never had Avani felt such a rush of energy in her entire life. There was no mistaking it, her triumphant opponent, Bracer, had the nerve to show his ugly face to her after what he'd done.

"Avani _no!_" Uri yelled, aghast. "What are you doing?" She completely ignored his perplexed outburst, however.

"_Give me one reason I shouldn't crush you right now!_" Avani shouted across the room. The harsh, thunderous tone she strived for was short-lived. The force she put on her fatigued lungs made her wince in pain. Her grasp on the spiraling metal weakened, inadvertently.

"You have every right to be angry with me," the man finally spoke up.

"_Angry?!_ _That's putting it pretty freakin' lightly_!"

"Okay, okay! _Livid_ with me—and I won't deny that I deserve everything you decide to do to me—but I needed to apologize to you, face-to-face."

"_A__pologize?!_" she howled in disbelief. "I don't want your stupid, meaningless apology! "_I'm sorry"_ doesn't mend my bones! "_I'm sorry"_ doesn't undo the embarrassment you made me suffer through! "_I'm sorry"_ doesn't get me back into the tournament!"

"I—I know." He lowered his gaze, shameful. "I know it doesn't undo anything, but it's all I can do now." He shifted his arms in the cage as best as he could and revealed that he was holding a baroque bouquet, filled with red roses, yellow-orange sunflowers, a mixture of purple and white lilacs, and a brilliant, pink set of scattered carnations. The mixture of these colors made it look like the flowers, even now, were still flourishing to an even more beautiful state than ever before.

The sight flabbergasted Avani beyond all thoughts or words. She simply gaped at him for an extended amount of time, forgetting, for a brief moment, how to use her voice.

Her arched muscles slumped back into their sockets and soon the rest of her tense muscles followed after. The coiled sash finally gave in to gravity and the remainder of the contorted metal fell on the floor all together with a sloppy, boisterous clatter.

Bracer hesitantly moved out of the pile of scattered scraps of metal and glass and looked at her in the eyes for the first time. He had hazel eyes below a mat of brown hair and a trimmed, amber goatee. His facial hair was far more elegant compared to his disheveled hair above his eyes. The only flaw within sight was his crooked nose that had clearly been broken two or three times before in his life, though the flaw seemed to make him even more suave.

"I'm incredibly sorry, Avani," he said in a far more formal manner. His low, smooth tone alone was almost enough for to assuage her, but she stubbornly held onto her anger with him. He walked up and placed the bouquet on her lap, gently. "I get it, I'll go." He must've noticed something that showed on her face.

"Thank you for listening to me." He started to move towards the door. "Oh, and just so you know," Bracer turned back to face Avani once again, "you're a spectacular earthbender. I haven't faced anyone quite like you before."

For the second time in their conversation Avani didn't know what to say. She had done everything she could manage to get on his bad side, to hate him, yet he willfully passed through it and kept a polite, calm, and sincere tone—even as he was being practically thrown out the door. She felt the need to say something, but her brain was frozen with a mixture of guilt and befuddlement. Despite having the entire wall torn from its roots in the floor, Bracer still went through the unscathed door. At the last second, when the it had creaked open to its widest point, Avani raise her hand desperately and made an inaudible, unintelligible sound, but no one heard. Her thoughts were trapped in the middle of her feeble throat. It took longer than she would ever realize to lower her outstretched arm.

The next few days were long and tedious for her, it was increasingly difficult to keep track of day of week, much less time of the day. Everything was so unsystematic and ambiguous in consistency. Her parents visited every day but at sporadic time intervals and her "food" didn't really vary depending on what meal it was. It took two days for her to even realize that she was moved during her sleep to a different room. It was hard to believe something so prominent as the encounter she had with Bracer was forgotten so easily after some heavy sleeping. The only thing that stuck in her head was that she was tied down to the bed ever since the "incident" and it was only because it restricted her arm movement so much during meal times that this was such an exception.

"So you're Avani? I've heard quite a lot about you."

She groggily moved her neck to the voice after a long pause. A man with sleek, black hair gelled back emerged from the wall. Even at this distance, he had visible strands of hair that made up the immaculate side burns that ran across his jawline. He wore a plain, black and white suit with black dressing shoes and cufflinks that had the Earthen Empire emblem with the the black characters "自由" on it. The word meant freedom and it was a common—but not official—national emblem for Adrian.

"Who are you?" Avani asked, repulsed by how fancy the man was dressed.

"I believe you've heard of me, my name is Zeke Kintaro."

Her eyes widened as far as they could as she stared at the man Reia had so openly scorned all the time they had spent together. She suddenly felt short on breath and intimidated.

"What do you want?" she asked rather strained. Her palms were sweating like mad, suddenly. She had never felt so intimidated by any man before.

"You knew my son, didn't you? From what Murasaki said, you were closer than anyone to him." She blushed uncontrollably at the statement.

"Maybe I was, what does it matter?" she replied, irritable.

"Because my _son_ is the Avatar. He left Kotai—and probably Adrian I'd imagine—in a foolish panic." Zeke said, curling his long, delicate lips. "I need him locked up in the deepest cell of Ekta. Who knows what he's going to do if he escapes completely from me. I imagine Adrian will be in serious peril if the Avatar decides to assail our armies."

"Reia wouldn't do anything like that!" Avani cried, indignantly. "Why would he? He only left so you wouldn't kill him."

"Ah, so you do know something about this." Zeke smiled. "Though you're logic is flawed. Reiatsu never bore any love for Adrian, Kotai, or his family; what is to stop him from deciding to come back any time he feels powerful enough and wiping out one of three? Perhaps all three if he wishes to."

"I—I…"

"You don't know," he concluded, firmly. "I can't leave him be with who knows how much power stored inside him. He's a threat greater than all three nations that continue to assault us from all four corners."

"Why are you telling me this?" Avani asked. "Why are you here?"

"Right now, he is at the weakest point in his life. I can't afford to wait to capture him so, tell me, Avani, where is he going?"

"I don't know, the last time I saw him, we got into a fight. His brother intervened and they fled the school together. That's the last time I even bothered thinking about him." The last bit was a blatant lie, but she kept it stuffed as far down from her mind as possible.

"Very well, then. I must get going, I'm on a tight schedule." He handed her his business card. "Call me if you have any more information to tell me."

He swiftly turned on his heel and strode out the door without another word.

_I have to admit, I never imagined Reia's father to be anything like that…_

* * *

"Nilak" 尼罗河

The waves crashed into the bow of the ship continuously despite how easily the steel remained unhindered. Nilak wiped his running nose with the back of his hand as he looked out to see the few icebergs that calmly drifted in the dark blue-and-black water that stretched as far as the eye could see. He found it quite a magnificent sight to see throughout their week-long journey to the Beijia Kingdom. Something about ice, below-freezing temperatures, and the charcoal sky that slowly eased into a dense black was assuaging this otherwise formal and extravagant trip. The brilliant blend of the northern skies covered the darkest blues of winter, to the radiant greens of summer across the midnight sky. It was quite the spectacle, no matter how many times he saw it above his head in the Northern Water Tribe. _That was one of the best things about home._

He exhaled a great sigh of frigid water vapor that slowly fainted as it drifted upwards.

"Nilak? _Ah! _There you are!" Taige called from behind. Nilak was too absorbed by the alluring beauty across the endless waters to turn away.

A soft hand adhered onto his arched shoulder and he started. "There you are! I was wondering where you were…you know you missed dinner, right?"

He turned to face her as a pungent breeze picked up, blowing her auburn hair over the majority of her face. She shivered violently from its nasty bite. "Gah! H-how can you s-st-stand it out here?"

Nilak chuckled with his usual quiet laugh. '_The view makes it worthwhile. Here.' _He undid his heavy, navy blue fur coat and helped fasten it around Taige's body.

"Are you sure this is okay? You can't possibly be all right with just _that _on!" She shifted her brown eyes down at the slim, black thermal that tightly wrapped around his slim torso.

He grinned at her. '_I'm from the North Pole, remember? This is nothing compared to winter months! Besides, the cold never bothered me anyway.'_

"Right…remind me to never visit," she let out, facetiously.

"By the way, have you heard? We'll be docking _really_ late into the night so as soon as we wake up tomorrow I think we should—hey, are you all right, Nilak?" She cut off, noticing his face. "I was joking, you know—I'd love to see the Northern Water Tribe with you sometime."

'_No, it's not that, I'm just feeling a bit…lost at the moment,' _he motioned.

"Lost? What do you mean?" She moved over to lean on the open railing next to him, keeping her eyes locked on him.

'_No…it's not like that_. _I shouldn't be the one assigned to do this…I mean, a lot is weighing on these negotiations going well and this is one of—if not the single most important job imaginable in the URN! I'm way in over my head!'_

"Don't you think you're being a little bit hard on yourself?" Taige frowned. "Don't psych yourself out about it; some things appear a lot harder to tackle from a distance than they really are once you reach them. I know you, Nilak. You've never let not having a voice of your own take away your thoughts as well. You have a way with words unlike any other person I've met."

'_Even if you're right, I still can't quite push the feeling out of my mind. Every time I make a decision with or for the council, I feel like I'm making a stupid decision no matter which side I choose…. If I'm this indecisive, how am I supposed to help govern the capital of Republic City? I just don't feel like I'm cut out for this.'_

Taige couldn't find the proper words to reassure him; she kept quiet, gazing at the sky with a slightly troubled expression. Nilak glanced at her, noticing her face was a milky pale save the a flush of red on the cheek he that was facing him. At the sight, his breath caught in his throat so brutally that he was overcome with a fit of rugged coughing for several moments.

Startled by the outbreak, Taige tentatively hit his back, clearly not quite sure of herself.

"You—er—good?" she asked after he resurfaced, breathing deeply.

'_Yeah…' _he knocked, sheepish. _Well done, idiot… _He turned back towards the water, hoping the moment resentment of his foolishness would pass. _Well done, Nilak. Well done…_

"Ok, good," she replied. "Anyway…I don't think it has anything to do with how capable you are, you just are being tasked with an extraordinarily stressful job. I don't think anyone else would feel any different in your shoes, no matter how qualified or prepared they may be for it." She smiled warmly at him.

Nilak's stomach tingled strangely. She looked more beautiful now than he had ever noticed before and, for some reason, looking at her under this new light felt a lot harder to act naturally under than normal.

'_Okay, thanks Taige.'_

"Don't mention it." She moved away from the railing of the ship. "Hey, Nilak, I'm gonna go head back inside—it's a bit too chilly for my taste. You should come back in as well; there's still food in the dining halls."

'_I think I'll order some later tonight,' _he fingered. '_I'm not really too hungry as of yet. I'm going to stay up here for a little longer…I'll come by to your room once I get back down. I doubt I'll be out too much longer.'_

"Sounds good," she said, fingering her bare hands around the buttons of Nilak's heavy coat. He placed a gentle hand over hers and she looked up at him, confused.

'_You can keep it for the rest of the trip.' _he insisted. '_You didn't really pack thick enough clothing for the weather anyway, and I have an abundance of my own, currently.'_ Throughout the past couple of days, she had goosebumps every time he'd seen her while on the ship. He felt a sting of guilt for not lending her anything earlier but, to be perfectly honest, the idea never came into his mind.

"Really? All right, then. Thanks! I'll catch you later tonight, Nilak!" Taige started off towards the stairs with a slight skip in her step.

'_Wait, Taige!' _He jump-started after having a spur-of-the-moment thought left unsaid. But it was too late. She didn't notice his movements and went down into the lower decks of Aurora. Nilak watched the last bit of her figure sink from his sight, strangely content. _I have to tell her…_ He grimaced, already blushing a furious red at the thought of confronting her. _I need to do it after I go back inside._

_But how?_ he thought anxiously. "_Hey Taige it's great to see you again in less than an hour, but I need to tell you something that should've been said up on the deck. I'm in lo—I…_

He exhaled, impatiently. _I can't even articulate it well within my own head! _He turned back towards the tranquil waters some thirty-two meters below him. He leaned on the railing again, far more slumped than he was before the whole ordeal. _Why is this so difficult?_

"If you want time to go by faster, I suggest you stop gazing at it," another voice called from behind him after a while of solitude.

The speaker was none other than Captain Ulva, who he had only seen during the first night when she personally directed him to his extravagantly ornate room. Nilak had completely forgot about her during the moment.

He fumbled through the pockets of his pants to grab his hand-held notepad and then motioned into his coat pocket where his pencil was. Only he had given the coat to Taige! He felt around his thermal long-sleeve shirt as if expecting it to be hidden inside the thin layer.

"Wait a second." Ulva said. She dug her hand into her own pockets and pulled out a jagged, dark pencil with the pink eraser completely absent on the far end.

[Thank you he scribbled on the page.] The Captain gruffly nodded in response and studied him diligently, as if pondering something in her head.

[Are we really that close to the dock? He held up the note to her.]

"Yeah—you haven't noticed?"

[Noticed what?]

"Over there." She pointed off towards the peak of the bow and the distant light of a sleepless city shined as their destination. "Exactly how long were you looking around on this dock? It's been visible for well over an hour by now."

[I haven't really been looking around, I've been looking over here throughout the whole time.]

Ulva looked over towards the brilliant streams of northern lights with eyes as unimpressed as the sight of the banal waters. It was as if she was expecting something to evolve—something to _happen_ from looking at it.

"Oh…all right, then." Ulva turned her back on the scene with devastating ease. Nilak's grip on the pencil loosened. He stood there, taking her indifference to be a direct affront to him. He thought no words in neither his paper nor his brain. A somber weight gradually sank his insides like the metal he stood on.

"I hope I'm not being rude, Councilman, but I've been wondering about something after you came to the bridge for assistance," Ulva started, slowly. Her blank eyes showed a flicker of curiousity. "Why exactly can't you talk? I've never met a mute in my entire life and I've seen a lot of people in my life." She caught her flagrant, eager behavior and abruptly distanced herself for a few moments, trying to collect herself.

Confusion felt like it was depriving Nilak's brain of all oxygen. He could not hope to accomplish anything more than an honest expression of utter bewilderment.

"Do you mind that I'm asking this? It's pretty rare when I'm face with something or someone I haven't seen before—well, at least nowadays," Ulva asked, now unsure of herself.

[Not at all. I just…] He paused for a moment, lifting the point just above the pink margin. He crossed out the "I just" and took a different approach. [I'm surprised you asked. I've never been asked why before. When I was a child, I was frostbitten at the cavity of my chest. It was near-fatal, but I was able to be revived. My vocal cords are beyond repair from the incident, though.]

"Oh…I'm terribly sorry," she said awkwardly.

[It's fine. I was only a few months old when it happened so I didn't exactly use it enough to say I miss it. I don't even notice anything but a few minor scars that were left behind on my chest and at to the side of my neck.]

When Ulva handed him back the notebook, he stretched the left side of his neck to expose his lower neck where the bright, pinkish-red slits were. It was hardly noticeable, to Nilak on a day-to-day basis. The scars were small in both his neck and chest and he never could see them with his own eyes. It was like they weren't even there. That was the main reason he didn't really speak about it to Taige or anyone who didn't specifically ask. It wasn't a big deal to him.

"No offense, but I didn't take you as someone who lived in the Northern Water Tribe," she admitted.

He cracked a smile for the first time in their bizarre conversation. To his surprise, she returned it with a grin, as short-lived as it was. "I've met my fair share of strange people and most of them were brilliant in a weird way. What exactly is it like—being mute?"

Nilak contemplated on the question for a little while. It seemed so natural and engraved in his everyday life that there wasn't an easy nor proper way to convey it.

[I don't know, I'm just…me] he eventually put together in defeat.

"Oh…okay," she said, slightly disappointed. She dug into her inside coat for a small, silver, and battered pocket watch. The odd chain that hung on her general service cap was pushed behind her shoulder, absentmindedly as she looked first at the time then out at the stars as if to calibrate her pocket watch by just using the sky. To his astonishment, Nilak was right. She delicately wound the stem of her rugged pocket watch.

A sweet, though distant odor reached his nose and his body froze as stiff and cold as ice. _Something's burning!_ He spun around finding nothing but the empty deck that he had seen for hours. Although he couldn't see the stern, there should've been something that gave a hint to the cause. Ulva and Nilak were the only two people who were resilient enough to be outside, on the main deck so casually in this below-freezing weather.

"What is it?" Ulva asked, alert from his sudden change of behavior. A soft hum came off from the back side of the ship. A motorboat fleeing from the ship. _It can't be…_

His system jolted as the confirmation of his fear had started to come in. Without even a second's time to catch up with his subconscious perception, he turned back around, sprinted up to Ulva, and tackled her over the railing of Aurora. Any scream she may've ushered was drowned out by the roar of the wind. Nilak's stomach felt weightless and his heart raced as they sped nearer and nearer to the blackish-blue water, still picking up speed from the drop.

As he plunged into the water, a box of daggers, filled to the brim, encased his timid body. The water actually felt like it was _burning _him. He desperately swam back up to the surface and gasped for breath. It was drowned out by the earsplitting explosion that came roughly thirty-two meters above. In several quick, consecutive booms, Aurora had combusted and within ten seconds, the entire surface of the ship was aflame, illuminating the cloudy, onyx sea.

A bountiful pile of debris was blasted off the edge of the ship and came crashing down where Nilak treaded water, just barely keeping his head up in the air. After seeing this, he repelled his body with a burst of energy and plummeted down under the water with a lot of help from his water bending. All the deafening noise above immediately distorted and a hollow, drifting sound escaped as a large piece of metal hit the water with profound force that was stopped in its tracks. The silhouette of the tubular object closed in on Nilak, now sinking much slower than it had fallen. He kept the end that was over his own head still for a few moments with an artificial current he procured as he pumped his legs as vigorously as they would budge through the thick water. With difficulty, he managed to escape the wreckage and it's fatal hold on him.

Nilak swam up again, resurfacing for another heavy, jagged breath. He coughed violently from the dive. He had been submerged for more than three minutes and he barely noticed until now. After recuperating himself, he turned his body wildly around everywhere, unable to find anything but the monstrous waves that arbitrarily swallowed his head every now and again.

_Where is she? I was holding her not a minute ago! How could I've lost her!_

He dove back under the water despite every inch of his body screaming in protest. The fire on the massive ship behind him was the only reliable source of light that pierced the ocean. However, it wasn't very helpful, only the most shallow portion of the water was clear enough to accept the radiance.

Reluctantly, he swam feebly upwards for the third time, coughing up the cold water that had sneaked into his mouth. His limbs uncontrollable shivering was making the fourth dive a lot messier and he came back up once again, feeling a sense of panic jitter through his body, numb with pain. _PULL IT TOGETHER! SHE IS DIEING IN THERE! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HER!_ Yet another dive came in and, this time, he pulled back his arms with a sudden burst of energy he didn't think his weary limbs were capable of at the moment. The water bent at his dominant will and he propelled into the pitch blackness deep in the sea.

There was no way he could see anything in this veil; it was so dark that, if it weren't for the gradual sinking he had to counteract, he wouldn't even know which way was up or down. _Come on, Nilak! Think! THINK!_

He closed his eyes, trying to shut out all the mayhem that was happening around him and within him. The stinging cold, the shivering of his arms and legs, the cloud that fogged all his thinking: it all eventually subsided for one brief moment of time.

He sloshed his arms inward in a circular motion, feeling as if he was completely out-of-body for the tranquil moments he concentrated all his stamina on. The currents piled inward to mimic his motion. _No, not the water…blood. _he told himself, refusing to succumb to the piling fear. The odd current stopped and he could feel his chi energy wrapping around something strange…something _different_.

After a lifetime of doing this, he saw a quick glimpse of a silhouette less than a meter from him. He stopped his motions abruptly and immediately swam down to catch the figure. The wool texture and raw weight of the figure made it unmistakable: this was Captain Ulva.

His hope rekindled as he frantically ascended. Though it was at least six times more difficult with their combined weight being solely on Nilak's own unremarkable strength. His brain quickly became foggier than ever and all the pains he had pushed back in his one moment of concentration had broken through his barriers with strength amassed. Every inch he rose his body retaliated with anguish more extreme than ever before. _We're…we're almost…there… _he thought, trying his best to abate his struggle.

The did indeed reach the surface after Nilak had thought his vitality had all but vanished. Though it was crumbled to dust as his sore, searing lungs finally were able to function once again. He bent the water inside of Ulva's lungs out through her esophagus. To Nilak's suspenseful relief, she had gagged as the long stream of water left her mouth.

Without wasting another breath of what was no doubt the last of his strength, Nilak steered the pair of them to put their backs towards the coastline. He took his right arm pushed out with all the force he could muster and they propelled away from the ship at top speed. His dense blanked through the rest of there travel until they hit the single most beautiful thing that either of them could hope for: land.

They pitifully, first dragged, then crawled their way out of the devilish water and Ulva slumped onto the first bit of dry sand she felt, exasperated. Her deep swelling and contracting of breath was in unison with Nilak's own sore lungs.

He plumped his knees next to Ulva and looked dully past the shore and straight to the ball of fire that was Aurora. He stretched a weak, shivering arm out towards it. _Taige…No…_

His feeble body finally gave out and he laid on top of Ulva, unable to move another muscle.

* * *

"Avani" 阿瓦尼

The screeching of the brakes on wheels ceased and with a last, abrupt jolt forward, the train had come to a complete stop at TǔGuǐ Station. Avani was finally back in Kotai—finally back home. A natural flux of passengers piled up from each of the four doors in each compartment. After a moment she too stood up, still unable to move away from her seat with how packed the car was.

She looked out through the window she was pressed against and saw Mt. Ignas towering over the south portion of Lake Bayani. _All those times we spent together, at Lake Bayani…did it mean anything to you? Did I mean anything to you, Reia?_ She sighed and extended her legs onto the fourteenth platform. The crowd had was now dispersing; it was time that she went her own way.

The open market to her right was nothing more than a great, big, gloomy gathering. The liveliness of the city was always compacted in the heart of Kotai, which was mostly the Northern Market, TǔGuǐ Station, and, of course, Zhēnx's Triangle: just south of the two. She went through all three on her lenient way back to the crappy apartment she once so pathetically called home; but none of them had the same spark that they used to have before Reiatsu had shown his true colors to her. Even as densely populated as Kotai had become; and how alacritous the crowds were, it all seemed barren and depressing to Avani for the first time in her life.

She went down the Hea Road for some time, paying no attention to where exactly her legs took her. She sulked her way through the trip from Hea Road to the all too familiar slums where her apartment was put amongst many in the large pocket of buildings. The same second district she had walked along for all of the nineteen years of her life now made her hollow inside. She had lost. Her dream was over. She had put all of her time—no—all of her _life_ into making her dream happen and when the chance arose, she completely blew it.

Avani passed the third parking lot on her right and just ahead was building number seventy-four. She followed up the same four, cement stairs into the building and then went through the cramped, somewhat crooked hallway to the back where the stairs were. The usual old, auburn door greeted her that required way too much effort to open for most people. Not Avani, though, she was strong. _Not strong enough, apparently…_

With a soft _plop_, her body dropped onto the couch. She considered watching TV beforehand, but now that she laid on the couch so limp, she neither did nor thought of doing anything. Xia and Guiren were both out in some bank in High Kotai in hopes they could pay for the immediate debt that had stockpiled all because of their daughter. It was obvious they needed to finance a loan in order to even hope of paying off the cost of the trip.

Avani buried her face into a nearby pillow, as pitiful as a child. _Why am I so weak all the time now? _Ever since Reia had left her it seemed like that's all she could be: weak, sensitive, fragile, pathetic.

Unaware of how long she actually stayed on the couch in her beat down state, Avani eventually managed to break apart from it to a sitting position and then reach for the remote of the the television in front of her.

"—quite a storm. Meteorologists are expecting to last throughout the last weeks of April and into the first week or two of May. It's quite a bizarre weather that will be on and off; however, when the storm is on, it will be a devastating downpour. Winds are going to pick up over the next week from forty kilometers an hour to a whopping eighty-five kilometers per hour! Citizens of Adrian are advised to keep small children indoors as much as possible until further notice. Now back to the news with Fulla."

_Ugh, how do people watch this crap?_

"Thank you, as always, Bato. During last night's rush hour, a dreadful car accident clogged up Chita Boulevard for well over three hours. The downtime was catastrophic and—"

The TV cut off as soon as Avani had pressed the button on the remote. She impatiently shifted her weight on the couch and her hand brushed against the thick, paper card in the left pocket of her pants. She hovered over the pocket hesitantly for several seconds before pulling it out and copying the number on the card to the only rotary phone in the house.

"Zeke Kintaro, Chief Advisory of His Majesty speaking," the same voice from the hospital stated, even more uncolloquial than before.

"Er—Mr. Kintaro?" Avani asked, tentatively.

"Who is this?"

"It's me, Avani. You came to me at the hospital a few days ago," she answered tersely.

"Ah, yes!" Zeke let out, merrily. "Avani! I'm so glad you called!"

"You—er—said earlier that you wanted Reiatsu locked in the deepest cell of Ekta."

"I did." he agreed, slightly lost. "Why?"

"I can help you with that," Avani's voice shook with a mixture of compressed fear and rage. She clenched her fists as tight as she could, completely resolved. "But only if I'm the one who drags him down there."


End file.
